There was little doubt that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was not going to be a world wide success. If anything, the title seems to be on track to being the de facto Game of the Year, and we’re not even halfway through the year yet. The game has been officially out for a little more than 48 hours now, and we’re already seeing some statistics coming in for the franchises newest entry. According to Gamesindustrybiz, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom debuted on the UK Sales Charts at number 1, and in the process, went onto completely decimate all of the previous new titles of 2023 in one fell swoop.
That makes The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom one of the most successful Zelda titles to launch in the UK, and as you can see in the tweet above, absolutely trounced the insanely popular British title Hogwarts Legacy’s boxed release by more than 50%. Keep in mind, that is boxed sales only, meaning physical and does not account for any digital sales for Hogwarts Legacy. That in of itself is an absolutely mind-blowing achievement even for a Zelda title. If that wasn’t enough to drive this home, then look at this statistic. The game completely overpowered it’s predecessor, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, by a staggering 173%. It has also outsold some of the other mainline entries such as Skyward Sword, The Wind Waker and A Link Between Worlds.
It’s important to remember that Nintendo does not regularly share digital sales numbers, as we are only getting a look at the physical statistics right now. That means that the actual sales data, and units shipped is likely way higher than what we’re seeing so far on the UK Charts. If that wasn’t enough, we still haven’t seen any of the sales data from North American, Europe, or even the title’s own native Japan. Once we see those numbers come in, we can easily expect the overall percentage to increase exponentially, and more than likely crown The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom as the best-selling game for 2023, even if we’re not in June yet. Nintendo’s newest juggernaut has arrived.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available now exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.