The Legend of Zelda: A Sales History

June 21st, 2012 by Destiny

Vgchartz has recently posted some figures on how many Legend of Zelda games sold for each title. Which game came out on top for sales may or may not surprise you, the answer is pretty interesting! I have never payed attention much to sales so I’ll admit, I was a little caught off guard, but now that I think about it is does not seemed that far fetched. Although what sold the least amount of units was not that surprising.

Anyways, make the jump to see the charts and find out which game sold the most!

Sales Overview

In the chart above, the Legend of Zelda franchise for consoles has sold 38.90 million units. Looking at the release dates the majority of the games were released in the 2000’s, four. With one released in the 1980’s, two in the 1990’s, and one in the 2010’s. There was one main game released on the NES ( VGChartz does not have any sales figures for The Adventure of Link), one for the SNES, two for the Nintendo 64, three on the game GameCube and two on the Wii. Twilight Princess is the only mainline console game to be released on two consoles.

Twilight Princess with both versions combined is the bestselling Zelda game, but if you separate the two than Ocarina of Time is the bestselling. Twilight Princess has sold 6.51 million units on the Wii and 1.59 million units on the GameCube. Four Swords is the clear outlier, not even selling a million units.

Looking at the bar graph above it is easy to see that The Legend of Zelda franchise has not had consistent sales over its lifetimes. One thing that does stick out that on the platforms with more than one Zelda game is that the first game is always the bestselling. Ocarina of Time outsold Majora’s Mask, The Wind Waker outsold Four Swords and the GameCube version of Twilight Princess, and the Wii version of Twilight Princess outsold Skyward Sword.

Looking at the sales for each console in a pie chart (Twilight Princess sales have been split up), the NES sold 6.51 million units, the SNES 4.61 million units, N64 10.96 million units, GameCube 7.00 million units, and the Wii 9.82 million units. The average sales per game on each console is 6.51 million on the NES, 4.61 million on the SNES, 5.48 million on the N64, 2.33 million on the GameCube, and 4.91 million on the Wii.

Weekly Sales

So what did you think? Expect Twilight Princess to be first? Think Skyward Sword can still surpass it? Tell us in the comments and don’t forget to check out the full article here!

Source: Vgchartz

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Categorized under: Skyward Sword, Twilight Princess, Zelda Games
Tagged: Charts, Sales, Sales Figures, Skyward Sword, Twilight Princess

KingHarkinian

my favorite ones are also those sold the least!
- Geir Åge Kravik
  
  Same here.
- RedDekuScrub
  
  Yeah. Four Swords Adventures is like the best Zelda game if you have friends to play it with, but Solo-Mode is not as much fun. I think the reason it sold the least was because most people don’t have friends, with Gameboy Advances, with connector cables to play with.
BR!4N

I thought Wand of Gamelon would be the worst selling.
- exuyrgnrgsjdcgzjdh
  
  These are just the top 8 (I think).
  - Geir Åge Kravik
    
    Also, That is not a Nintendo game. It is Sony or something. So most people do not consider them actual zelda games, as they are “non-canno” I think it is called.
    
    Would be neat to see the same list only with ALL zelda games and the remakes.. And even the CD-i games.
    - http://www.facebook.com/simon.eden.7 Simon Eden
      
      (Phillips)
    - RedDekuScrub
      
      Sony? LoL. It was Phillip’s CD-i. The titles shown above are the Console Releases
wafflegoat

Twilight Princess is way better. End of. Period.
- RedDekuScrub
  
  End of what?
- blazikid
  
  you see I actually think tp was the worst 3d zelda. it just did not have a beautiful enviroment that the others had. THere just werent enough colors for it to look good. just flat out too dark
  - RedDekuScrub
    
    I agree, but not so much on the Art-Style. Twilight Princess was trying much too hard to beat Ocarina of Time and borrowed to much of it’s formula. Twilight Princess was a very good game, but there are many reasons why it is not my favorite.
    - TheMaverickk
      
      DIdn’t just borrow the formula… it blatently ripped out and rehashed lots of moments from OoT.
      
      Forest Dungeon, Fire Dungeon, Water Dungeon…. (mirroring both child and adult first 3 dungeon sets).
      
      Arbiter Grounds made use of Forest Temple’s “Poe Sister Hunt”… even to the point that the last Poe you fight in the Arbiter grounds is fought the same way as Amy Poe (the Poe who splits into 4).
      
      The Water Temple final boss was Morpheel… clearly based on Morpha of OoT’s Water Temple.
      
      Even the final battle with Ganondorf… the first phase is fought like Phantom Ganondorf, and Ganondorf… repelling a magic light attack back and forth.
      
      And that’s just the tip of the ice berg in terms of how much was taken from OoT.
    - Tommyjoe Pete
      
      Look at OoT on its original platform. Then look at TP on its original platform. Then come back and tell me that OoT has better art style. If you liked OoT so much, you should be glad that TP is like it. Except with better characters, art style, storyline, and action. It’s practically an enhanced version! And if you’re complaining it’s too dark, THEN FOR GOD’S SAKE TAKE A SECOND AND MAKE SURE ALL THE BOXES ARE DISTINGUISHABLE! They give you that screen for a reason.
      - TheMasterLink10
        
        He means the MOOD IS DARK, idiot. It’s my least favorite and will never be like or beat OoT because its gloomy, the mood is dark, and it doesnt apply to kids anymore, its rated T, and most teens play it, Zelda’s childish loving style is a true trademark. It has some sexual references too. The gameplay is false, the mood is dark, the story is screwed up, the characters are strange, the art style is bad, the action, i never can get engaged in the action, the bosses are super easy, which makes it even more boring, the sidequests are dull, the game never had the difficulty, puzzle solving, and vast majority of colors, dungeons with variety, and quests OoT had, and I HATE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  - Tommyjoe Pete
    
    OH PLEASE. Just because Ocarina of Time was your favorite game growing up, does NOT mean that another game cannot possibly be better. Let go of your blankies and admit that TP was better in every way.
    - TheMasterLink10
      
      TP is a load of crap, I hate it horribly. It is horrible at vibrant color and gameplay. My least favorite Zelda game. OoT was soooo much better.
http://www.facebook.com/twilitony Tony Emerson

it makes sense that twilight princess got the most for the longest because it was released on two different consoles at two different release dates.
Tommyjoe Pete

Not really surprising. I thought TP would be further down, just because it sold poorly in Japan. But it’s still the best Zelda Game, and that proves it. SS I think will benefit from time and a new platform, just like TP did. I am surprised that MM and WW weren’t higher up, and it was news to me that ALttP sold less than the original. But other than that, I agree with it and it conforms to my thoughts.
- BlackRaven6695
  
  “[Twilight Princess] is still the best Zelda, and that proves it.” Because it sold the most? Does that mean you think Halo 2, Kinect Adventures, Black Ops, Donkey Kong Country, Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort, Wii Play, Wii Fit, Wii Fit Plus, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Tetris, Super Mario Land, Nintendogs, Mario Party DS, Brain Training, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Lemmings, The Sims 2 and Angry Birds are all better than all of the Zelda games? Purely because they sold more? Yeah, sales figures do not indicate how fun a game is to play.
  - You-Know-Who
    
    He just thinks it is awesome and its the best.
    - BlackRaven6695
      
      No, he said that the sales figures prove it, as if you can possibly prove which game is the best; it’s all down to opinion.
  - Tommyjoe Pete
    
    Remember; a lot of those games are complimentary with the console. And yes, a lot of those games are just as good as any Zelda game. Just because you are a Zelda fanatic does not mean that it’s the best game of all time.
    - BlackRaven6695
      
      My point still stands; sales figures do not indicate how fun a game is to play and which game is the best of all time is all down to personal opinion. I enjoyed Pikmin 2 more than any of the Zeldas. Does that make the universally agreed best game ever? No, it doesn’t. Halo 2 sold more than any Zelda game. Wii Sports and Super Mario Bros. sold more copies than any other game. Does that make them the universally agreed best games of all time? Of course not.
  - TheMasterLink10
    
    All of those games you named are pretty boring to me.
    - BlackRaven6695
      
      But they all sold more than any Zelda game so that proves that they’re the best games ever! That’s what Tommyjoe Pete said, anyway.
      - TheMasterLink10
        
        Yeah, but Tommyjoe Pete is going crazy in the head at the moment
- ljlink
  
  that means nothing because some people could have bought it and hated it
- Macc
  
  Japan is a pretty small market for the Zelda franchise, so it doesn’t really affect the overall sales as much as one might think.
OcarinaLink

No Oracle games?
- RedDekuScrub
  
  This is only Console Games.
  - http://medlismessages.blogspot.com/ Heroine of Time
    
    Then what about Adventure of Link? That was a console title.
GHIRAHIM

I still think Skyward Sword will eventually surpass the sales of Twilight Princess. It just needs some more time.
- RedDekuScrub
  
  I agree completely. Skyward Sword has been out less than a year and almost has half of what Twilight Princess got in 6 years.
- Macc
  
  Wont happen. Twilight Princess has a stronger tail and it’s the end of the console cycle. At this rate SS wont even reach 4 million before the wiiU is released, and then the sales are really gonna drop.
- Gorondo
  
  Sorry, SS can’t surpass TP. TP had 6 years, Skyward Sword is likely to only have one before the launch of the Wii U, so it basically has no time, save a couple of months.
Geir Åge Kravik

That cannot be right?

They meant to write Four Swords Adventures, right?!

No wonder some people mix up that and Four Swords, when people insist on calling FSA only FS ..

Gah! ..
- Nintendo4Ever
  
  its kinda like how people call new super mario bros wii just nsmb. no no no, wrong. that is a ds game and nsmbw is the sequel
- http://medlismessages.blogspot.com/ Heroine of Time
  
  Well, the “Chronological Order” chart wrote “Four Swords…”
  
  I mean, it had the ellipsis, meaning that there was more to that.
  
  …But I agree. Everyone mixes them up.
- Pikachu855
  
  well, ya see in the chronological chart, four swords has the ellipsis. oh wait someone else said that before i did but i guess it doesnt matter. cuz i noticed it before i saw HOT’s post. uh why am i even posting this im just talkin 2 myself. ok i pressed post
HachiNuu

I’d be interested in seeing the games total lifetime sales, (virtual console, re releases, etc) and see what the chats would look like then. Zelda has picked a ton of fans over the years, and have played the older games through a re-release, a remake, or VC.

I’m guessing in that case, the game with the biggest disadvantage aside from Four Swords would be The Wind Waker as it was only released on one console, and is not readily available in digital or physical form right now… which is quite a shame. (Lookin’ at you, WiiU. Make it happen.)

Also, the portable games are Zelda titles too…why are they always treated like some sort of lesser experiences than the rest of the series? ): Their sale numbers are not always the most impressive (usually Nintendo’s fault in marketing, not the games.), but they should at least be on there.
zombie_eat_flesh

I kind of expected Skyward Sword to sell…more.
- RedDekuScrub
  
  It has only been out for a year and has almost half of what Twilight Princess got in 6 years.
  - TheMasterLink10
    
    SS has been out for 8 months to correct you.
    - RedDekuScrub
      
      That’s why I said “almost” a year
jono

Nintendo released official numbers, OoT sold more then TP ever did.
- RedDekuScrub
  
  Twilight Princess is both the Gamecube and the Wii version. Both sale totals put together.
  - Tommyjoe Pete
    
    And wan’t OoT on like three different consoles?
You-Know-Who

TP deserves to be up there, but SS should have surpassed by a landslide.
BlackRaven6695

Kind of disappointed that they didn’t put the handheld games in.
RedDekuScrub

Skyward Sword will definitly outsell Twilight Princess. Twilight Princess has been out for 6 years on TWO platforms and has sold 8.1 Million. Skyward Sword has only been out for a little less than a year on ONE platform and has already sold 3.31 Million.
- Macc
  
  No, it wont. Even if you don’t consider the fact that the sales will drop like a rock once the wiiU is out, just one look at the last graph should tell you all you need to know to extrapolate the sales.
  
  At this rate, SS will NEVER outsell TP, even if you extrapolated the sales into infinity.
  With the wiiU coming up within the end of the year I wouldn’t expect it to even outsell The Wind Waker.
- LinkandCuccos
  
  SS’s is actually 3.52 million already (reported in April). Maybe even higher right now. http://n4g.com/news/987643/legend-of-zelda-skyward-sword-claims-3-52-million-unit-sales
Alberto Mani

Well, Twilight Princess was a launch title, and adult link’s first appearance in years, so it makes sense.
ljlink

they need to wait untill SS has been out for a while it will probably outsell TP eventually
Wendy

Isn’t TP the only Zelda to be a launch title? That’s probably why it’s best selling, plus it was on the GameCube. MM and SS are both masterpieces but they were sadly made at the tail end of their console’s life, so that’s probably why they won’t sell much. Not because they aren’t good. Quality =/= best selling.
- http://www.facebook.com/ongyuhann Ong Yu Hann
  
  Don’t forget you can play SS on the Wii U!
Will Spencer

I hope SS passes TP because in my opinion, SS is much better
- marcella huse
  
  I totally agree! Skyward Sword was much better so I am shocked Twilight Princess beat it :/
  - LinkandCuccos
    
    SS’s is not updated on Vgchartz. It already reached 3.52 million in April.
  - Pikachu855
    
    TP and SS r very comparable but TLOZ pwnz
- Tommyjoe Pete
  
  Overall, SS was better but I still think TP dungeons were great.
- TheMasterLink10
  
  I SOOOO agree, SS rocks out TP. I cant believe that people LIKE TP, I mean, EVERYTHING about it is bad.
  - Zeldalover1029
    
    How old are you?
    SS was probably the worst Zelda game ever made (not counting CDI)
    The sky was extremely limited, the while time i felt like i was fenced in.
    Skyloft was nowhere near as big or alive as clocktown in mm, like they said it would be.
    The land below the clouds was very fenced in and limited as well.
    And Oh My God the characters in SS were aweful. It was like Nintendo designed SS For pre-schoolers.
    TP ON THE OTHER HAND was huge and diverse. I didnt feel so limited like in SS
    The dungeons were vast, dark, and creepy. The characters were memorable and not cheesy as hell like in skyward sword. And compare the overworlds in ss and tp.
    
    So please tell me why TP is so bad?
Macc

”
Think Skyward Sword can still surpass it(TP)?”

At this rate, SS will NEVER outsell TP, even if you extrapolated the sales into infinity. And with the wiiU launching within the year the sales will most likely grind to a complete halt before it even surpasses The Win Waker.
- TheMaverickk
  
  Twilight Princess sold as much as it did because the game was made for the fans of Ocarina of Time.
  
  It took so many elements from that game that it could loosely be called a retelling almost.
  
  Not to mention that there was 4 years of hype for the game. Where Skyward Sword had a year and a half. Also lets not forget that Twilight Princess was released on two systems (the GCN and WIi) while Skyward Sword was only released on one console.
  
  Twilight Princess was a launch title (and literally was the best game on Wii for almost a year until titles like Metroid Prime 3 and Super Mario Galaxy came out). Skyward Sword was released at the end of of consoles life.
  
  Basically what I’m getting at is that TP had every advantage possible to sell like crazy. It’s not that impressive that it’s sold that much over the last 6 years. Nor does that mean that it is the best title in the series. A good entry sure, but not necessarily the best.
  - Macc
    
    I never said TP was a better game because it sold more.
    
    Would Skyward Sword have sold more than it did if it was a launch title? Well obviously yes. However hypothetical scenarios are irrelevant here. So is all the reasons you listed for why TP has sold as much as it did.
    
    The only thing that matters here is this:
    
    Can SS somehow sell 5 million more copies before sales flatten out completely.
    I submit that it can’t.
Gorondo

Well, considering that Ocarina had a 3d remake, it is the best selling zelda of all time.
ZeldaRocks

What about Adventure of Link?
dert

this proves nothing as to best game. some people could’ve hated TP. (idiots)
- TheMasterLink10
  
  Yeah, but they’re combining both versions of the game, and they’re not determining which is best, idiot, they’re counting the game’s sales.
http://www.google.com/ pokalink

No fair! if they counted Oots remakes on the gamecube, wii, and 3ds then it would have won hands down!!
Austin

skyward sword beat twilight princess! INCONCEIVABLE!!!! (like i you know what movie i quoted).
- TheMasterLink10
  
  Twilight Princess beat Skyward Sword. SS is nearly the lowest in sales so far, but TP was released 6 years ago, SS was released almost 9 months ago. SS will probably surpass TP later in the decade.
http://medlismessages.blogspot.com/ Heroine of Time

Wait…

I’m not surprised TP is first – that makes perfect sense to me – but a while ago I saw a chart listing the sales of all the Zelda games, and according to that chart, OoT was first with TP in a close second! Now I’m confused.

But, yeah, a lot of my friends have Twilight Princess. I personally don’t think the game deserves that spot – Skyward Sword was a lot better. I think that if more people experienced that, they’re be more likely to play other titles in the series, since all of my friends who have TP have never played another Zelda game in their life. (Except when they come over to my house, and I force them to play…) In addition, most don’t even make it past the first dungeon. TP’s intro is very slow and not interesting. The rest of the game is better, but still not as good as Skyward Sword. Perhaps this is just my opinion, though.

I still doubt SS will surpass TP in sales, though. Maybe it will come close, but TP was a launch title for the Wii.
- TheMaverickk
  
  Skyward Sword is destined to the same fate that Majora’s Mask had early on.
  
  It was different enough that it deterred OoT fans from really getting into the game. Majora’s Mask and for others it who did complete it they were initially not satisfied cause they were expecting the game to play out like Ocarina of Time.
  
  Took years before the game was appreciated for being so different. Wasn’t until about 2006 that people started talking about how great the game was.
  
  It will take time before Skyward Sword is discovered and enjoyed by more players.
LinkandCuccos

Skyward sword’s is not updated on Vgchartz. Nintendo reported it to be 3.52 million sales in April.

http://n4g.com/news/987643/legend-of-zelda-skyward-sword-claims-3-52-million-unit-sales

You might want to update your sales chart. It also sold 3.42 million end of January.
fan

Makes a lot of sense, OoT’s count came short because they didn’t count the virtual console and 3ds. TP beat SS for obvious reosons. TP came out with the wii, and everybody was excited to buy one, so the market for it appealed to nonzelda fans, who were eager to try an action/adventure game with motion controls. Also, TP was the first rated T zelda game. So it appealed to a wider audience. SS came up short because by the time it came out wii didn’t have much credit for motion control after x-box and ps3 came out with better versions of their own motion controls. When SS hit the shelves, only zelda fans and motion control enthusiast gave it much attention, while TP looked like a great new action/adventure for all audience. SS was great, but I personally wouldn’t recommend it to any nonzelda fan, but with TP, i would.
- TheMaverickk
  
  I still have no idea how TP got the “T” rating… there isn’t even blood in the game.
  
  Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess are basically on par as far as I’m concerned when it comes to the violence and questionable material.
  
  The real key differentiators is the visual style. With TP looking more moody, brown and gritty I suppose, and Skyward Sword being more vivid and colourful. Seriously TP had so much hype, and I remember it getting a T rating back in the day contributed to that hype. Yet what we got was pretty standard Zelda action.
Kablamogroup

I’m not too surprised. SS only came out last year, so it hasn’t had time to “age”, like the rest of the console titles. I’m very interesting to see what the sales were on all the handheld Zelda games, if they could show it.
Also, the last chart managed to illustrate what was bugging me about the sales chart: the fact that SS sold way more units, way faster at launch than TP did, so there’s a good chance that it could continue to grow in sales, and maybe even surpass TP. Maybe not, who knows?
Smitie

twilight princess is around for 5 years now and also had a price drop as a ‘players choice’ type of game. If skyward sword gets a price drop as well, than the sales would also increase quicker.
Nicholas Jabbour

The fact that Skyward Sword is selling much faster than Twilight Princess, despite being released on only one console, and one that is considered “dead” at that is, to me, a huge testament to how it will likely surpass Twilight Princess in years to come. Also, I honestly expect a small spike in Skyward Sword sales when the Wii U comes out, from all those players who passed on the Wii.
- TheMasterLink10
  
  I don’t think Skyward Sword is compatible with the Wii U assuming there’s a screen you hold in your hands to do something, and it’s an HD system.
  - Nicholas Jabbour
    
    Nintendo specifically said that the Wii U will be compatible with all original Wii peripherals and games. That means it will be fully compatible with the wiimote plus and nunchuck, and of course, Wii games like Skyward Sword. So yes, it will be compatible with the Wii U.
Pikachu855

disappointing, how does twilight princess get top. y no majoras mask!
- TheMasterLink10
  
  Actually, that’s both versions of the game combined sales. If you separated them, Ocarina of Time is the highest sales, I can see why. Ocarina of Time was the turn of the century!
FLUDD

People are waiting for Wii U to get Skyward Sword so in the future it should surpass Twilight Princess.
- TheMasterLink10
  
  I don’t think Skyward Sword is compatible with the Wii U assuming there’s a screen you hold in your hands to do something, and it’s an HD system
http://www.facebook.com/shawn.owens.161 Shawn Owens

To be fair, Skyward Sword hasn’t been out that long yet and its already at 3+ mill. As where Twilight Princess as had 6 years to build its record.
- Zeldalover1029
  
  Actually, TP sold more in 6 months compared to SS.
xybluzibquibinop

i thought Twilight Princess was much better than Skyward Sword. TP’s dungeons were huge and complex, it had a darker vibe, and the characters were much less annoying.
- Zeldalover1029
  
  I know exactly what you mean. SS’s characters seemed like they came out of a children’s cartoon.
windwaked64

I’m pretty sure ss will pass tp since you can play it on the wii u, and it will probably be 2 or 3 years before a new Zelda on wii u. Maybe a remake though.
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Guest

If LTTP gets remade on the 3DS, it would pass the first LoZ. I was just suprized that TP was #1, as it was one of my least favorites in the series.
Shook I

I liked twilight princess better and it was probably the best because everybody wanted an epic Zelda
Johnny

The list seems to be missing sales from handheld games…. including Ocarina on the 3ds.
Which the best Zelda ever is debatable and down to personal opinion in the end, but I’m pretty sure if you are counting sales from versions from all platforms (as with TP) Ocarina is the highest selling.