$1,000,000,000 title becomes highest selling game of 2023, earning $300 million more than second best

It was rather surprising that a game that went live in February became the highest-selling title of the year. With around six months still remaining, it is expected to see more sales once it goes live on the Nintendo Switch. The title in question is Hogwarts Legacy. Despite being surrounded by controversy, it was widely played by a lot of people all around the globe.

The next game that came closest to such humongous figures in terms of sales is The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Although this title did not foster any controversy, it was leaked before release.

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Hogwarts Legacy beats The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom to become highest-selling game of 2023

Based on the information released by Warner Brothers during their quarterly earnings call, Hogwarts Legacy has already amassed over a billion dollars in sales, having sold around $15 million copies worldwide. What's more interesting is that the title will go live on the Nintendo Switch on November 11 after being delayed by four months and is expected to take the number up even higher.

As revealed by Mat Piscatella, an industry analyst working for Circana, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has become the second highest selling game of the year, and that's just based on the physical copies sold.

Being leaked before the launch didn't dissuade fans from purchasing it. The game is believed to have sold 10 million copies within the first few days of release - a third of what its prequel sold in its entire lifetime.

Here's where things get more interesting; despite being the highest selling game, the figures for Hogwarts Legacy don't mention if they're just physical sales, digital sales, or a mix of both. Nintendo hasn't revealed the digital sales information for The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom either.

So there's a high chance that the latter might have outsold the former. And even if it hasn't, Tears of the Kingdom was released on just one platform, which is enough to attest to how popular the game is.

Hogwarts Legacy has yet to go live on the Nintendo Switch. Considering the game is already on all other major platforms, it's unclear how it will affect sales on the Switch. That said, one can assume it will be in the spotlight once again when it releases, allowing it to retain the crown of the highest selling game of 2023.