The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom sells 10 million copies in three days, breaks franchise records

The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom has been out for a few days and is already breaking records. As per publisher Nintendo, their latest "open-air" action-adventure game has sold over 10 million copies in just three days post-launch. This makes it one of the biggest video game launches this year. At the same time, it is also among the top 20 best-selling Nintendo Switch games ever. As if that was not enough, the game is also the fastest-selling entry in its 30+ year-old franchise.

It also surpassed its predecessor's launch window sales in such a short duration. This is certainly a big deal and an expected outcome, given how much anticipation fans had toward the game.

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What do the astonishing sales of The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom mean for Nintendo and its fans?

The 2017 prequel game The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild sold a combined 30 million units across the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Wii U consoles - with the former boasting 99% of those sales numbers. As the days go on, the sales for this brand-new entry can only be expected to double, if not triple. This means publisher Nintendo will be more open to innovating the franchise further with subsequent installments.

The Japanese gaming company is no stranger to mixing things up regarding its well-established IPs. Games such as Super Mario Odyssey, the Bowser's Fury expansion for Super Mario 3D World, and of course, The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild are excellent examples of this. The latter, in particular, is a drastic change compared to its predecessors. The iconic action-adventure franchise has always been linear for the most part.

With the 2017 game on Nintendo Switch and Wii U, however, the developers aimed for a seamless open-world experience. Be that as it may, clearly, they were not content with making this a cookie-cutter sandbox experience, as the final game is far from it. Organic design elements, emergent gameplay interactions, and more make the modern Legend of Zelda games a joy to explore. But what does Tears of the Kingdom's success mean for fans? The answer to this might be less exciting than expected.

Earlier this year, Nintendo surprised fans with a $70 price tag for the game. This was a first for the publisher as well. Despite that, the game has been a roaring success, as evidenced by the 10 million units sold so far. This means players should expect Nintendo to adopt this pricing model for future major titles as well. Many fans expressed hesitation when this change was announced earlier this year. So it remains to be seen how fans will handle such adjustments if and when the publisher deems it feasible to become a norm.

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The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom was released on May 12, 2023, and is available exclusively on the Nintendo Switch hybrid console.