Video Games

Zelda Tears of the Kingdom already sold 18.51 million copies by the end of June

Latest The Legend of Zelda game sells like cake

Marco Wutz

Zelda Tears of the Kingdom already sold 18.51 million copies by the end of June
Zelda Tears of the Kingdom already sold 18.51 million copies by the end of June /

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has been blowing expectations out of the water – or the sky – ever since being released earlier this year: It silenced all the doubters, who thought that Breath of the Wild could not be topped, and is developing into a commercial juggernaut as well.

Nintendo’s report about Q1 is out and states that Tears of the Kingdom sold 18.51 million times as of June 30, 2023, meaning that it’s well on the way to break the 20 million sales milestone by the end of summer. The game launched on May 12, 2023.

This also means that Tears of the Kingdom broke into the top ten best-selling first-party titles on Nintendo Switch, entering the ranking in ninth place:

  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 / Pokémon Shield – 25.92 million
  7. Pokémon Scarlet / 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

Nintendo notes that first-party software sales were the highest ever recorded in a first quarter thanks to Tears of the Kingdom driving up the numbers.

Nintendo Switch Zelda OLED model.
Tears of the Kingdom has been on a commercial roll so far / Nintendo

The report also reveals that the Nintendo Switch has sold a total of 129.53 million units by the same date. It’s the third best-selling video game console of all time, chasing the Nintendo DS and the PlayStation 2.

There is no information about Pikmin 4’s numbers yet, since the game launched after Q1 ended. The report does confirm the release dates for upcoming first-party games, though:

  • Detective Pikachu Returns – October 6, 2023
  • Super Mario Bros. Wonder – October 20, 2023
  • WarioWare: Move It! – November 3, 2023
  • Super Mario RPG – November 17, 2023
  • Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon – 2024
  • Untitled Princess Peach game – 2024
  • Metroid Prime 4 – TBA

Yes, Metroid Prime 4 still doesn’t have a release window, so fans will have to stay patient.

Alongside several game releases, 2024 should also see the Nintendo Switch successor being launched. Hints about this console have become more dense as of late, indicating that we’ll see some news about it soon.

Published
Marco Wutz
MARCO WUTZ

Marco Wutz is a writer from Parkstetten, Germany. He has a degree in Ancient History and a particular love for real-time and turn-based strategy games like StarCraft, Age of Empires, Total War, Age of Wonders, Crusader Kings, and Civilization as well as a soft spot for Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. He began covering StarCraft 2 as a writer in 2011 for the largest German community around the game and hosted a live tournament on a stage at gamescom 2014 before he went on to work for Bonjwa, one of the country's biggest Twitch channels. He branched out to write in English in 2015 by joining tl.net, the global center of the StarCraft scene run by Team Liquid, which was nominated as the Best Coverage Website of the Year at the Esports Industry Awards in 2017. He worked as a translator on The Crusader Stands Watch, a biography in memory of Dennis "INTERNETHULK" Hawelka, and provided live coverage of many StarCraft 2 events on the social channels of tl.net as well as DreamHack, the world's largest gaming festival. From there, he transitioned into writing about the games industry in general after his graduation, joining GLHF, a content agency specializing in video games coverage for media partners across the globe, in 2021. He has also written for NGL.ONE, kicker, ComputerBild, USA Today's ForTheWin, The Sun, Men's Journal, and Parade. Email: marco.wutz@glhf.gg

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