Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has already sold two-thirds of what Breath of the Wild managed in six years

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Breath of the Wild walked so that Tears of the Kingdom could run

korok seeds zelda tears of the kingdom
(Image credit: Nintendo)

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has already sold two-thirds of what Breath of the Wild managed in six years - despite releasing just a few months ago. 

As highlighted by Twitter user @ZeldaUniverse (using figures from Nintendo's Q1 financial results), Tears of the Kingdom is already quickly catching up to its predecessor's sales figures, reaching 18.51 million units sold as of June 30, 2023. 

For context, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is currently sitting at 30.65 million units sold as of the same date. The only difference is, Breath of the Wild was released in March 2017, and Tears of the Kingdom in May 2023.

We're hardly surprised by these impressive figures. For starters, it took just two weeks for Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom to become 2023's second best-selling game - sitting just behind Hogwarts Legacy. Even earlier than this, Tears of the Kingdom managed to outpace Breath of the Wild's pre-order figures in Japan eight weeks before the game had launched. Basically, the sequel was pretty much destined to perform well for Nintendo. 

In terms of other huge Nintendo Switch releases, Tears of the Kingdom isn't too far behind the likes of Super Mario Party (19.39m), Pokemon Scarlet and Violet (22.66m), Pokemon Sword and Shield (25.92m), Super Mario Odyssey (26.44m), and Super Mario Bros. Ultimate (31.77m). There's still a little ways to go until Tears of the Kingdom overtakes behemoths Animal Crossing: New Horizons (42.79m) and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (55.46m), though.

Considering trying out the Breath of the Wild sequel soon? Take a look at our Zelda Tears of the Kingdom tips to get a head start.

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Hope Bellingham
Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at 12DOVE before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.  

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