The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the biggest retail release of 2023 in the UK [208K]

[Lelouch0612]

In the UK, and after just two days, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is already the eighth biggest Zelda game of all time. It's already outsold Skyward Sword, The Wind Waker and A Link Between Worlds. This is based on boxed sales alone. (GfK figures)

It is comfortably the biggest boxed game release of the year, with sales almost a third bigger than Hogwarts Legacy. It's likely Hogwarts had a bigger digital launch than Zelda, but we won't know as Nintendo doesn't share digital data

Ranking of the biggest Switch launches:

1. Pokémon S/V 235k (dp counted as 2)
2. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - 208K
3. Pokémon Sw/Sh 191k (dp counted as 2)
4. Pokémon BDSP 145k (dp counted as 2)
5. Pokémon LA 144k
6. Animal Crossing NH ~130k
7. Smash Ultimate 128k

Edit:

ERA's Monday Morning Market Drop: The highly anticipated 'Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom' tops the UK chart as the biggest launch of 2023 with over 208k discs sold, generating almost £11.5m at retail.

 

[Gina Lestrade]

175k is an amazing start. It's still below Sword/Shield and significantly less than Scarlet/Violet as far as the biggest Switch launches are concerned but a Zelda game selling well over 200k (with digital of course) in a couple of days with no holiday and/or hardware launch is something I never thought I'd see here in the U.K. Nintendo have done extremely well taking Zelda to a new level worldwide.

 

[Lelouch0612]

Correction: the number is closer to 218K which fits the comment on S/V.

Seems like our HL number was underestimated

 

[DecoReturns]

That’s cool. Should have some legs and word of mouth seems to be good

Looking to see how it did in the states. I saw a lot of anticipation for this. Never really see video games highlighted like that too.

70 bucks thing hasn’t been an issue at all from what I’ve seen.

 

[SquidEnthusiast]

That’s cool. Should have some legs and word of mouth seems to be good

Looking to see how it did in the states. I saw a lot of anticipation for this. Never really see video games highlighted like that too.

70 bucks thing hasn’t been an issue at all from what I’ve seen.

Never really thought the price tag would be an issue with Sony and Microsoft doing the legwork preparing people for that to be the new norm.

 

[Gina Lestrade]

Oh wow it actually sold well over 200k at retail alone. That's beyond amazing. That's more than *any* exclusive PS4 game sold here (so-called 'Sony land' or whatever) at launch and obviously PS5 so far too and second only to Scarlet/Violet as far as Switch games are concerned.

 

[Tbone5189]

I think digital will be bigger than normal too for launch, well at least in the US compared to other NSW games. That said amazing launch. 218k means TotK might of outsold SV when digital is combined

Post automatically merged: May 14, 2023

175k is an amazing start. It's still below Sword/Shield and significantly less than Scarlet/Violet as far as the biggest Switch launches are concerned but a Zelda game selling well over 200k (with digital of course) in a couple of days with no holiday and/or hardware launch is something I never thought I'd see here in the U.K. Nintendo have done extremely well taking Zelda to a new level worldwide.

Well look again cuz you just saw it (and retail only!)

Now with digital we could be looking at 350k-400k launch biggest Nintendo launch ever

 

[ILikeFeet]

I think digital will be bigger than normal too for launch, well at least in the US compared to other NSW games.

the rare $70 game will probably show out like higher priced games do in japan. since stores don't fight over price like in Europe, it's far easier to just use the vouchers

 

[Lelouch0612]

Reminder that TotK is priced just like BotW in the UK.

 

[IronTed]

Imagine telling someone in 2016 that BOTW would be so successful that the next Zelda would open at Pokemon levels. Incredible opening.

 

[Bruno MB]

This is just one data point and it is not prudent to extrapolate from UK but it is what it is. From this data point we are in front of a launch that is quite close to matching the one of Pokémon Scarlet / Violet, this bothers well for a worldwide launch that has a legit chance to match or or surpass the one for Pokémon if as I suspect it has a bigger digital ratio, the only problem is if for example North America will be able to offset the big difference in Japan in favour of Pokémon. We will see.

 

[Lelouch0612]

If someone has a better estimate than 80K for Breath of the Wild opening week, they are more than welcomed to share

 

[Phantom Thief]

It beating out Hogwarts Legacy is giving me life

 

[Lelouch0612]

Seems like our HL number was underestimated

Actually it is not, it is just that TotK beat HL by more than 50%.

The % will be corrected in the final Gbiz story

 

[m051293]

So it begins . We'll probably have Nintendo global PR before other markets trickle in, which is a little anti climactic lol.

 

[Avitsky]

If someone has a better estimate than 80K for Breath of the Wild opening week, they are more than welcomed to share

what is the sales of Hogwarts Legacy to have 218k of Totk?

 

[BassForever]

Imagine how much better the game could have sold if they marketed it better?

/s

 

[Astral_lion02]

Great launch as expected.
They reach the level of Pokemon which is impressive for the Zelda franchise.

what is the sales of Hogwarts Legacy to have 218k of Totk?

Hogwarts Legacy sold 135k.

 

[Luminoth 4545]

Reminder that TotK is priced just like BotW in the UK.

Yeah in the UK Zelda: BOTW is sold at a higher price than other Nintendo 1st Party games and it has kept that high price since launch.

 

[BananaPeel]

Typo in the title, should be kingdom but you have kindgom

Edit: now fixed

 

[m051293]

How much did HL do with digital?

 

[BananaPeel]

How much did HL do with digital?

More than 15M but that's WW, don't think we have country breakdowns with digital as well. Probably some decent estimates though

 

[Lelouch0612]

Sorry, compared to Hogwarts, Zelda’s UK boxed launch is 54% bigger. Not a third.

Given the estimate we have on HL is more reliable, it would put Tears of the Kingdom at 208K.

 

[Avitsky]

Great launch as expected.
They reach the level of Pokemon which is impressive for the Zelda franchise.



Hogwarts Legacy sold 135k.

What calculation did you do to get 218k?

 

[Lelouch0612]

How much did HL do with digital?

Around 550k, with a great contribution from PC and the Deluxe Edition overall.

What calculation did you do to get 218k?

People used the BotW number to get 218k (80k -> 218k (+174%))

Since the HL number is more reliable tho, we have 208k now (135k -> 208k (+54%))

 

[Tbone5189]

Typo in the title, should be kingdom but you have kindgom

Edit: now fixed

It would of sold more if it was called The Legend of Belda: Tears of the Kindgom

 

[m051293]

More than 15M but that's WW, don't think we have country breakdowns with digital as well. Probably some decent estimates though

Yeah meant UK only. Also only meant opening timeframe .

 

[Arynio]

Very impressive. Considering the price point, vouchers are a great option to buy this game in particular, so its digital share is expected to be huge. It may have sold even more than SV at launch!

 

[Aleh]

Great result for Zelda. 208k is a lot for the UK.

 

[BananaPeel]

Very impressive. Considering the price point, vouchers are a great option to buy this game in particular, so its digital share is expected to be huge. It may have sold even more than SV at launch!

Does the UK have the voucher deal too? With Costco you can get a copy for $40 at launch that is quite wild.

 

[Arynio]

Does the UK have the voucher deal too? With Costco you can get a copy for $40 at launch that is quite wild.

AFAIK vouchers haven't been removed from the European eShops ever. 40$?? That's utterly crazy, it's nearly a half price discount. Do they still have it in stock?

 

[BananaPeel]

AFAIK vouchers haven't been removed from the European eShops ever. 40$?? That's utterly crazy, it's nearly a half price discount. Do they still have it in stock?

You have to buy the $100 eshop gift card for $80 and then use it on the vouchers. Saw a post on Slickdeals about it, didn't do it myself. Just crazy the voucher deals

 

[Arynio]

You have to buy the $100 eshop gift card for $80 and then use it on the vouchers. Saw a post on Slickdeals about it, didn't do it myself. Just crazy the voucher deals

Oh I see, I misunderstood you. I thought you could buy a retail copy for 40$. Still an incredible deal.

 

[DecoReturns]

Zelda Triple AAA now.

Well. Started with BOTW in mainstream sense. The games were always highly production and marketed for Nintendo. But now capturing a much bigger audience. Wondering what comes next now. I expect the open air concept. But a new setting and whatnot. How will they change it up I wonder.

 

[Bodokoh]

A good start for TOTK, it's going to match Pokémon S/V sales numbers in Europe for the 3-day opener. NA is going to be the the gamechanger for TOTK that's going to offset the gap in Japan.

 

[Aostia82]

Not bad, I suppose the series will continue to see investments from nintendo, going forward ( )

 

[Pooroomoo]

I never noticed before, but given my greater interest in ToTK sales, finally did - why are we being given launch results for ToTK in the UK (and comparison with launch numbers for over games) when Sunday is not over yet? Is the UK sales week Sunday -> Saturday, or are these just numbers for the first two days but eventually new numbers will be provided for the week ending with Sunday?

 

[Damage2]

Big just like i expected, its impressive how BOTW made the Zelda series that big even in the UK.

 

[theprodigy]

I never noticed before, but given my greater interest in ToTK sales, finally did - why are we being given launch results for ToTK in the UK (and comparison with launch numbers for over games) when Sunday is not over yet? Is the UK sales week Sunday -> Saturday, or are these just numbers for the first two days but eventually new numbers will be provided for the week ending with Sunday?

UK (and NA) are Sunday-Saturday yes

 

[Xevross]

Phenomenal launch sales, Zelda has really hit the big leagues.
Also quite happy that I pretty much nailed it with my prediction a few days ago.

 

[Lelouch0612]

Phenomenal launch sales, Zelda has really hit the big leagues.
Also quite happy that I pretty much nailed it with my prediction a few days ago.

Yep, you hit it in the nail with your 205K prediction

 

[Xevross]

Given the estimate we have on HL is more reliable, it would put Tears of the Kingdom at 208K.

I reckon the HL figure may have been rounded down to nearest 5k though so Zelda is more likely ~210k.

 

[Lelouch0612]

I reckon the HL figure may have been rounded down to nearest 5k though so Zelda is more likely ~210k.

Possible but not a lock given how DI2 was rounded to the nearest 100 units. I wouldn't be surprised if HL was rounded to the nearest 1.000 by the same source.

 

[BTB123]

Is this just the first 2 days? I thought the UK charts we always get include Sunday. Are all of these launches for 2 days?

Nintendo's PR, if it happens will be for the first 3 days, so the numbers should be even bigger.

 

[Decoyman]

Additional data: Unit sales are 12% lower than Scarlet Violet, but revenue is 8% higher. It's the biggest Switch launch in the UK in terms of revenue.



Personally reckon TOTK may end up Nintendo's biggest game in terms of revenue. Another Nintendo evergreen in the making that's $70 across the world is a crazy prospect.

 

[Xevross]

Is this just the first 2 days? I thought the UK charts we always get include Sunday. Are all of these launches for 2 days?

Nintendo's PR, if it happens will be for the first 3 days, so the numbers should be even bigger.

Yeah it's always the same, UK charts are sunday-saturday.

Additional data: Unit sales are 12% lower than Scarlet Violet, but revenue is 8% higher. It's the biggest Switch launch in the UK in terms of revenue.



Personally reckon TOTK may end up Nintendo's biggest game in terms of revenue. Another Nintendo evergreen in the making that's $70 across the world is a crazy prospect.

We have Scarlet Violet at ~235k, so seems like 208k is right for TOTK.

Revenue depends on what the asp of mario kart 8 Deluxe has been over the years I guess.

 

[Aleh]

Additional data: Unit sales are 12% lower than Scarlet Violet, but revenue is 8% higher. It's the biggest Switch launch in the UK in terms of revenue.



Personally reckon TOTK may end up Nintendo's biggest game in terms of revenue. Another Nintendo evergreen in the making that's $70 across the world is a crazy prospect.

Despite costing more it will never sell enough to make up for the difference in units compared to something like Mario Kart

 

[Decoyman]

Yeah it's always the same, UK charts are sunday-saturday.

We have Scarlet Violet at ~235k, so seems like 208k is right for TOTK.

Revenue depends on what the asp of mario kart 8 Deluxe has been over the years I guess.

Good point! I'd admittedly forgotten about Mario Kart in that equation.

 

[Himura Kenshin]

A few more Zelda stats. It didn't quite beat Scarlet/Violet in the UK to be the biggest Switch launch so far (launch sales were 12% lower). But in terms of revenue, it is the biggest Switch release (+8% over Scarlet and Violet).
And Breath of the Wild is also back in the Top Ten! Sales of that game rose 31% week-on-week and is at No.8 in the GfK boxed charts.

12% under the biggest UK Switch launch ever. BOTW back in the top 10.

 

[awng782]

Around 550k, with a great contribution from PC and the Deluxe Edition overall.

People used the BotW number to get 218k (80k -> 218k (+174%))

Since the HL number is more reliable tho, we have 208k now (135k -> 208k (+54%))

That 80K figure for BOTW is after upweighting while the 135K figure for Hogwarts is unweighted since GfK tracks 95% of the UK market.

Tears of the Kingdom sold ~208K unweighted and ~218K upweighted.