Nintendo sells 10M copies of ‘Zelda’ in three days

A man inspects a display of Nintendo’s latest offering ‘Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’ outside a popular electronics chain store in Japan’s capital Tokyo on May 12, 2023. AFP PHOTO

PARIS: Japanese video game company Nintendo said on Wednesday it had sold more than 10 million copies of its latest release, “Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom,” in three days.

The firm wrote on Twitter that the figures made it “the fastest-selling game in the history of ‘The Legend of Zelda’ series,” a franchise that dates back to 1986.

The Zelda games were already one of the most successful in history, having sold 125 million copies worldwide before the latest edition came out last week.

The rapid sales of Zelda outstrip this year’s other blockbuster game release, “Hogwarts Legacy,” based on the Harry Potter series, which took two weeks to register 12 million sales.

The Zelda series helped pioneer the idea of “open world” games where the player is free to roam in virtual landscapes — a concept later taken up by titles ranging from “Grand Theft Auto” to “Skyrim.”

Nintendo has pinned much hope on the franchise for a boost in profits and to prolong the life of its Switch console, which experts say is approaching the end of its life after more than six years on the shelves.

Analysts expect the game to be the Japanese firm’s main money spinner this year.

The game has been almost universally heralded by critics, leaving it with a score of 96 out of 100 on Metacritic, a site that compiles ratings from reviewers.

Fans had waited outside shops around the world to get their hands on the game, which came out six years after the previous edition, “Breath of the Wild.”