The adventure video game The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom sold more than 10 million copies worldwide in just three days, becoming the fastest-selling game in the entire saga developed by Nintendo.
For comparison, the video game Hogwarts Legacy: Hogwarts Legacyfrom the Harry Potter universe, sold more than 15 million units worldwide in three months, after its launch on February 10.
Eagerly awaited by players who had formed endless queues in front of stores to get it as soon as it was released overnight from Thursday to Friday, the new Zelda also achieved in Europe and on the American continent the best start on the Nintendo Switch console and the best launch of a Nintendo game “all consoles combined”, welcomed the group in a press release.
In Japan, it sold 2.24 million units, he revealed.
The saga The Legend of Zelda, centered on the adventures of Link, an elf in a tunic armed with a sword, began more than 35 years ago. With these new figures, it exceeds 140 million games sold worldwide.
The last part Tears of the Kingdom (ToTK) is on course “to set a new record for the franchise”, now held by its predecessor Breath of the Wildcommented Charles-Louis Planade, analyst at Midcap Partners, interviewed by AFP.
“Excellent health of video games”
Recognized as one of the best titles of the Switch, which it accompanied the launch in 2017, Breath of the Wildwhich has sold 29 million copies worldwide, has revolutionized the “open world” video game format, giving more room to player creativity.
ToTK also seems to be unanimous: on Wednesday, it posted an average score of 96/100 on the Metacritic site, based on a hundred reviews from the international specialized press, and a score of 8.7/10 from players.
“Seven years after its arrival on the market, the Nintendo Switch continues to attract players, like this new release breaking all all records”, declared the president of Nintendo Europe, Stephan Bole, quoted in the press release of the group. .
“These figures should be compared with the very good sales of the Playstation 5 since the beginning of the year. This demonstrates, if need be, the excellent health [du marché] of video games”, points out Charles-Louis Planade.
According to him, Tears of the Kingdom “is a game that can approach a billion dollars in revenue. It is very significant for a company which makes a turnover of just over 10 billion per year, ”he told AFP shortly before its launch.
Series The Legend of Zeldaemphasizing adventure and exploration, was created in 1986 by Shigeru Miyamoto, star creator of Nintendo and father of flagship characters like Mario or Donkey Kong.