Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom outsells Elden Ring, equals Pokemon sales in its first three days

In its first three days, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has already managed to sell 10 million copies, outselling the release of Elden Ring and putting it on par with Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

It probably won’t surprise you at all to hear that Tears of the Kingdom sold ridiculously well, and Nintendo shared today that the game sold over 10 million copies in its first three days. “The Legend of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide in its first three days, making it the best-selling game in Legend of Zelda series history,” reads the tweet announcing the impressive statistics. “Thank you to those who are already enjoying Link’s latest adventure!”

It cannot be underestimated how massive this figure is. For context, Breath of the Wild’s lifetime sales currently sit at around 30 million, which means its sequel has managed to sell a third of that not even a week after its release. It’s also doing incredibly well compared to other similar titles; Elden Ring sold a still very impressive 13.4 million copies in its first month, putting Tears of the Kingdom already well ahead.

“We are grateful for all of our fans who have shown their passion for The Legend of Zelda over the years, and these sales numbers for the latest installment continue to show the strong momentum for both the franchise and Nintendo Switch this year.” shared Nintendo of America Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Communications Devon Pritchard in a press release.

Tears of the Kingdom is also keeping pace with Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, which also managed to sell 10 million copies in the same time frame. What’s notable here is that Pokemon games generally have a broader appeal, but dual releases also help game sales, making Tears of the Kingdom’s achievement all the more impressive. It also joins the pair of more recent Pokemon games as the best-selling game in their respective series. The sequel to Zelda is also here off to a faster start than the next best-selling console game, and might even catch up with it.

If you’re surprised by how successful Tears of the Kingdom has been, you shouldn’t know that it’s currently the highest rated game of all time on OpenCritic, as well as the highest rated game of the year so far.

To view this content, please enable targeting cookies.

Manage cookie settings