Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom sells over 18 million copies in just two months

In 2023, according to Nintendo’s first quarter sales data, Zelda has quickly climbed the all-time Switch charts to become the ninth best-selling game, helping push profits to a record high.

Nintendo has gone from strength to strength in 2023, reporting their profits have increased by 52% from the previous year. This has been largely due to its Super Mario Bros movie being the surprising highest-grossing movie of 2023 so far earning over $1.3 billion dollars in revenue.

Not only that, Zelda, which first sprung onto the gaming scene in 1986, has proven once again to be vital for the developer. 

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was released in May as the latest installment to the franchise and has impressively sold 18.51 million units in total.

After selling over 10 million units in three days, the game was an instant success. It was released as a direct sequel to the wildly successful game Breath Of The Wild, which has sold 30.65 million units to date.

The games have followed a typical Zelda action-adventure game format surrounding the iconic main character Link with a more heavy focus on the gigantic open-world aspect. 

How does the ToTK compare with other Switch games?

The Japanese developer has continued to pump out games for all ages across many genres since the release of the Switch in 2017. Despite recent concerns of the console sales decreasing, Zelda has proven there is still a strong market for Nintendo games.

Tears of the Kingdom has entered the all-time best-selling Switch charts after only two months taking the ninth place spot. It’s prequel Breath of the Wild has maintained the fourth spot since its release in 2017.

Similar to the 2023 movie, Mario has claimed the number one spot with it’s latest Mario Kart release achieving more sales than both Zelda games combined with over 55 million copies sold.

Top 10 best-selling Nintendo Switch games according to Nintendo for units sold:

1. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 55.46 million
2. Animal Crossing: New Horizons – 42.79 million
3. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 31.77 million
4. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – 30.65 million
5. Super Mario Odyssey – 26.44 million
6. Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield – 25.92 million
7. Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet – 22.66 million
8. Super Mario Party – 19.39 million
9. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – 18.51 million
10. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe – 16.17 million

Apart from Zelda, Mario has also been key in boosting Nintendo’s financial success in 2023, with the Super Mario Bros. movie proving to be an unexpected worldwide hit.