Daily Debate: How Many Copies of Tears of the Kingdom Will Be Sold Over The Game’s Lifetime?
Posted on May 19 2023 by Sean Gadus
Tears of the Kingdom is the game on the minds of many Nintendo Switch owners, and apparently it is also the game in many people’s shopping carts as well. In an announcement earlier this week, Nintendo revealed that Tears of the Kingdom has sold a staggering 10 million copies over its launch weekend. This massive launch weekend means that Tears of the Kingdom is already second on the list of best selling Zelda games. The only Zelda game with more copies sold is Breath of the Wild; the 2017 title has sold over 30 million copies between Wii-U and Switch.
This massive launch weekend was beyond anything I had thought possible for the Zelda series, and it is great to see that the series is thriving! This sales report from Nintendo makes me wonder if my initial predictions about how many copies Tears of the Kingdom will sell over its lifetime is also too low. With this in mind, how many copies of Tears of the Kingdom do you think will be sold over the game’s lifetime?
Overall, my initial prediction was that Tears of the Kingdom would sell at least 15 million copies, which was about half of what Breath of the Wild has sold so far. With Tears of the Kingdom‘s massive launch numbers, the game is already at two-thirds of my predictions. It appears that Tears of the Kingdom could sell upwards of 20 million copies, perhaps even 25 million copies. While the game has been highly successful, I find it unlikely that the game will catch Breath of the Wild‘s cumulative sales numbers. Breath of the Wild has the advantage of being available throughout the entire life cycle of The Nintendo Switch, and it was a “must buy” title during the most popular periods of the hybrid system’s lifespan. If Nintendo creates some of type of Nintendo Switch 2.0 or a backwards compatible successor, that could help Tears of the Kingdom continue to sell copies as the hybrid device is potentially phased out. Right now, we do not have a clear picture about Nintendo plans for its next device, and how Tears of the Kingdom will fit into theoe plans.
What do you think? How many copies of Tears of the Kingdom will be sold over the game’s lifetime? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Sean Gadus is a Senior Editor at Zelda Dungeon. His first Zelda game was Ocarina of Time, and he loves all of the 3D Zelda games from 1998-2011. The final battle of Tears of the Kingdom is one of his favorite final battles in the entire series. He wants to help build a kinder, more compassionate world. You can check out his other written work at The-Artifice.com.
