By Tom Gerken
Technology reporter
Nintendo has announced its latest game in the Zelda series has sold more than 10 million copies in just three days.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom had become the fastest-selling Zelda game so far, it said.
For comparison, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – the highest-rated game on gaming-aggregator Metacritic – sold 7.4 million copies over its entire run.
Tears of the Kingdom was released as a Nintendo Switch exclusive on Friday.
And it has already sold more copies than any other Zelda game except Breath of the Wild, to which it is a sequel.
Breath of the Wild, released on both Switch and Wii U in 2017, sold almost 30 million units, according to Statista.
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Meanwhile, 2022 Game Awards prize-winner Elden Ring had sold an estimated 20.5 million units as of March 2023. But the fantasy game, made by the developers of successful role-playing series Dark Souls, was released on many consoles, spanning the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and even PC.
Tears of the Kingdom has also become 2023’s biggest physical video-game launch in the UK, according to GamesIndustry.biz, selling 50% more physical copies than Hogwarts Legacy.
Piers Harding-Rolls, of Ampere Analysis, told BBC News: “The huge opening sales of the latest Zelda places it amongst the biggest paid-for games ever released.
“With estimated gross sales of well over $600m [£480m], this title is comparable to some of the best-ever launches but falls a little short of the very biggest.
“For example, Grand Theft Auto V delivered over $1bn in sales in its three-day launch window.
“Zelda has always been a beloved franchise for Nintendo fans but the success of the Switch console and the reinvention of the franchise into an open-world experience has transformed its appeal.”
