Published on: June 19, 2025
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom continues to inspire inventive gameplay within its expansive universe, thanks to a newly discovered exploit involving the game's innovative Autobuild feature and a companion app.
As one of Nintendo's flagship titles, Tears of the Kingdom has already achieved critical acclaim and impressive sales since its May 12, 2023 release on the Nintendo Switch.
Now, the creativity of the Zelda community is pushing the game's boundaries even further.
The exploit, widely shared across community platforms such as the tearsofthekingdom subreddit, leverages the recently introduced Zelda Notes companion app.
Available exclusively for the Switch 2 Edition, the app allows players to share in-game Autobuild creations by generating and uploading QR codes.
Once a QR code is scanned and imported via the app into the game, the Autobuild creation instantly becomes available to other users, opening the door to enhanced creativity and some unexpected results.
Players with modded save files have creatively used this feature to share a variety of unique in-game summons.
QR codes have surfaced online for creations ranging from food items and bubbles to more complex entities previously restricted to certain locations, such as shrine-exclusive objects.
Notably, some users have managed to summon formidable characters like Ganondorf, complete with a health bar and relentless AI, transforming Hyrule into a more challenging—and often humorous—experience.
For a lighter touch, other codes enable the summoning of multiple Eponas, giving players an army of the legendary horse to accompany them across the landscape.
A community member familiar with the process explained that achieving these custom summons requires modifying save data on a modded Nintendo Switch (referred to as Switch 1) running Tears of the Kingdom.
After tailoring the save file to swap Autobuild components with almost any in-game actor or item, the modded data is transferred to the Switch 2, where the Zelda Notes app and its QR code upload feature can be used.
This process, while requiring familiarity with modding techniques, has resulted in an impressive exchange of custom content across the Zelda community.
Nintendo, aware of its dedicated and technically skilled community, has a long history of both supporting creativity within its games and maintaining the integrity of its platforms.
While this particular exploit is made possible by modding and is not officially supported, it underscores the ingenuity and passion of The Legend of Zelda fanbase.
As the community continues to share these Autobuild QR codes—whether for harmless fun or added challenge—the broader gaming world takes note of yet another example of player-driven innovation on the Nintendo Switch platform.
For those eager to join in, various online threads provide a showcase of these custom builds, although the actual codes are typically shared among modding circles due to the technical requirements involved.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom remains a testament to Nintendo's pioneering spirit and the boundless imagination of its players, now fueled by the seamless integration of community-created content through the Autobuild QR exploit.
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