Previous Title 'Yasum' Total Sales 29.81 Million Copies
Unprecedented Surge in Sales for Switch as a Single Device
Japanese game company Nintendo's latest release, 'The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom,' has attracted global attention by surpassing 10 million units in cumulative sales worldwide within just three days of its launch. It is expected to quickly exceed the previous installment, 'The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,' which sold around 29 million units. In the global gaming industry, the Zelda series, exclusively released on the Nintendo Switch as a single device, is being praised for its unprecedented rapid sales success.
According to Nihon Keizai (Nikkei) on the 17th (local time), Nintendo announced through its social media channels that the latest series of 'The Legend of Zelda,' 'Tears of the Kingdom,' sold over 10 million copies within three days of release. Nintendo emphasized, "This figure represents the fastest sales volume achieved since the launch of the Zelda series in 1986."
Compared to Nintendo's Harry Potter series 'Hogwarts Legacy,' which recorded the highest sales earlier this year by surpassing 12 million units in two weeks, the speed of sales for Zelda is considered astonishing. The previous Zelda installment, 'Breath of the Wild,' released in 2017, has recorded cumulative sales of 29.81 million units, and it is expected that the new release will soon surpass the previous sales record.
Devin Preacher, Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Nintendo of America, said in an interview, "We are grateful to all the fans who have shown passion for The Legend of Zelda over the years," adding, "The popularity of the latest series will be a great driving force for Nintendo."
In particular, industry insiders note that it is unusual for 'Tears of the Kingdom' to achieve such large-scale sales in a short period, given that it is an exclusive title for the Nintendo Switch and is not compatible with other devices such as PCs.
Meanwhile, the new Zelda title, 'Tears of the Kingdom,' is a sequel to 'Breath of the Wild' and has received significant attention and praise from users worldwide even before its release. It also achieved the highest ratings among games released this year, with a Metacritic score of 96 and an OpenCritic score of 97.
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