A lot of rupees
It may have just come out on Friday, May 12, 2023, but The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is already selling faster than any other title in the series.
How many? Holy crap, 10 million so far. I come from an era when 1 million was this massive, unattainable milestone that few ever reached. Now games are crossing that mark in a few days. And as the press release points out (via BusinessWire), “with over 4 million sold in the Americas, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is also the fastest-selling Nintendo Switch game and the fastest-selling Nintendo game for any system in that territory.”
Fun fact, the original Legend of Zelda sold an estimated 6.5 million on NES. Meanwhile, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has sold around 30 million copies. So, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom still has some catching up to do, but it’s off to an incredible start.
Tears of the Kingdom is the perfect storm for sales. Its direct predecessor (ignoring the Link’s Awakening remake) was already well-received and sold like hotcakes. Any game in The Legend of Zelda series is already going to be hotly anticipated, and Tears of the Kingdom was well-received by critics. It was announced back in 2019, and since then has been like a cow being slowly lowered into a tank of piranhas. There’s no surprise that the piranhas are now gorging themselves.
Personally, I’m enjoying it. I’m among the many who loved Breath of the Wild, and Tears of the Kingdom feels like an extension of that. A lot of puzzle-solving is based around building things, which is a feature that works just fine for me. I don’t spend a lot of time getting overly creative because I prefer to focus on the exploration, but I still enjoy it just fine. I guess I’m just joining the chorus here.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available now on Nintendo Switch.
