Since its release on Friday, May 12th, we have been speculating about whether it sold a lot or a little. According to reports from the United Kingdom, the game had managed to position itself quite well, but not as much as it has turned out to be.
Nintendo has just announced that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has sold over 10 million units worldwide during its first three days, becoming the fastest-selling title in Nintendo’s history in Europe. Here’s what you need to know before playing.
A sales record for Nintendo and the Zeda saga
Nintendo explains that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is now the best-selling launch title for Nintendo Switch and the fastest-selling game in the Zelda series worldwide.
This means that no other Nintendo Switch game has sold as many units in such a short amount of time, and no other Zelda game has reached the 10 million units mark in just three days.
The action-adventure series, The Legend of Zelda, was born over 35 years ago with the original game, The Legend of Zelda, released for the NES console in 1987 in Europe (it was launched in Japan in 1986).
As of March 2023, the series had sold over 130 million units worldwide. With the updated numbers, this figure has now risen to 140 million games sold.
How did Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom break all the records?
While the launch of Zelda: Breath of the Wild generated more hype due to its release alongside a new console, it’s important to consider that it’s not the same to sell a game for a new platform as it is when there are already over 120 million Nintendo Switch units in circulation.
In other words, the current console user base is massive, and therefore, the potential audience is infinitely larger.
The true success of Tears of the Kingdom will be determined in five years when we see the number of copies it has sold throughout its “lifecycle” as a game. And Breath of the Wild won’t make it easy with its 29.6 million units sold.
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