The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom launched to widespread critical acclaim, and it currently sits as one of the highest-rated games on Metacritic. It was predictable that this would be accompanied by strong commercial success, but we are now getting an even clearer picture of just how impactful Breath of the Wild’s sequel has been.
As revealed in the latest financial report from Nintendo, Tears of the Kingdom has already sold 18.51 million copies. Thanks to the high sales, the company has seen strong financial performance for its first quarter.
Tears of the Kingdom drives hardware sales for Nintendo
Released on May 12, Nintendo claims that the latest Zelda game “has made a major contribution to Q1 sales in the current environment.” Though many of the players were returning from Breath of the Wild, the report notes that a growing percentage of customers haven’t played Tears of the Kingdom’s predecessor.
To put the success of Tears of the Kingdom into perspective, the report claims that “sell-through of this one title constitutes approximately half of the first-party software sold this fiscal year.” It is also a massive success when compared to Breath of the Wild. Released in March 2017, it took until August 2020 to sell 20 million copies.
Nintendo’s financial report paints an overall positive picture for the company. Though the Switch may be dated, it continues to bring in a steady income through hardware and software sales. Nintendo has also been profiting from non-gaming media, with the company attributing its financial success, in part, to “royalties and income from visual content related to The Super Mario Bros. Movie.”
The report gives a roadmap for the company going forward. October will be a particularly busy month, with Detective Pikachu Returns releasing on October 6, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder releasing on October 20. November will be equally packed, with WarioWare: Move It! hitting shelves on November 3 followed by Super Mario RPG on November 17.
