So. One of the [top posts](https://www.reddit.com/r/nintendo/comments/5okgwx/botw_overworld_map_compared_to_previous_games/?st=iy2xgnrs&sh=8c03f28e) right now tries to show us how large BotW’s map is compared to previous Zelda titles. Not a bad post per se, but it doesn’t provide a source for the 360 km^2 figure that was used for the comparison.
I believe that number comes from [this article](http://www.eggplante.com/2016/06/14/full-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-map-revealed-roughly-360-square-kilometres/) from June where someone stated that number based on an estimation from playing the E3 demo. I don’t believe this figure to be correct.
A couple of months ago the fantastical u/EngineeringHyrule made a [much more thorough attempt](https://www.reddit.com/r/truezelda/comments/5an375/xpost_from_rbreath_of_the_wild_analyzing_botw_map/?st=iy2y7un0&sh=898d8fdc) at estimating the size of the map. Among other methods they used CAD and Links height compared to a ladder on the side of the Temple of Time to calculate the size. A great post that everyone should read.
Their calculations lead to the much more reasonable, but still sizable figure of **62.1 km^2**
To compare with other games:
* Skyrim ~39 km^2
* Red Dead Redemption ~41km^2
* GTA V ~81km^2
There’s, as always, room for error in this calculation too. It all comes down the the estimation of Links height compared to a ladder, but the numbers (if correct) should land somewhere in between 62km^2 and ~80km^2 if I understood correctly.
I’m sure u/EngineeringHyrule can fill in some of the blanks if necessary!
EDIT: Some credit should also go to /u/Red_Pheonix_155 for their original attempt with the ladder method that u/EngineeringHyrule based their method on. Great work by both of them!