Zelda sales numbers: Tears of the Kingdom tops charts, climbs all-time list

Nintendo’s latest blows other releases out of the water with huge sales figures.

By Cole Luke

Published: Wednesday, 24 May 2023 at 12:00 am

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom always felt like it was going to be a fan favourite and it’s certainly lived up to that expectation. With even more to do in Hyrule than ever, we’ve been playing it non-stop since its release.

It seems that everyone has felt the same way too because the sales figures for Tears of the Kingdom are absolutely staggering but are well deserving of such a quality game.

If like us you’ve been trying to go for a 100% playthrough then be sure to check out some of our guides such as where to find the best weapons, the green tunic or warm clothes.

Be sure to check out everything you need to know about The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

How are the Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom sales numbers?

As said, the sales numbers have been pretty stratospheric. In the most recent update from Nintendo, the company stated that Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom sold 10 million copies in its first three days of release. This makes it the fastest-selling Zelda game, apparently!

A couple of weeks on from that huge launch, GamesIndustry.biz reports (based on GfK data pertaining to physical UK retail) that TotK still holds the top spot in the UK and by quite a margin – which is even more impressive when considering that sales have understandably dropped by 73% overall from its huge first week.

It’s also had the knock-on effect of bringing TotK’s predecessor Breath of the Wild back into the top 10. No doubt this is people getting caught up on the TotK hype but not wanting to miss out on any of the story.

The GamesIndustry.biz report also notes that in those two weeks, TotK has become the sixth best-selling boxed Zelda game in the UK, which just goes to show how well Nintendo has played its cards in making a direct sequel as opposed to something entirely different. Clearly, people wanted more Breath of the Wild – and that is what they got and more!

According to GamesIndustry.biz, Tears of the Kingdom has already overtaken the lifetime UK boxed sales of Link’s Awakening on Switch and Ocarina of Time 3D on 3DS.

It remains to be seen if TotK will knock BotW off its top spot of the best-selling Zelda game globally, given the older game’s increased sales numbers in recent days, and only time will tell.

We’ve seen it reported on VGChartz that Breath of the Wild has sold over 31 million copies worldwide since its launch in 2017, so Tears of the Kingdom still has a long way to go to catch up!

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