Zelda Tears of the Kingdom sells 18.51 million copies, made up 35% of total Q1 software sales

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has amassed nearly 19 million sales in its first quarter on the market.

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Tears of the Kingdom is a staggering success on the Switch. According to Nintendo's latest earnings report, the new landmark RPG has sold 18.51 million units in little over a month. To put that number into perspective, that's more than Elden Ring's total sales in its first six months and almost as much as Elden Ring's total-year sales of 20 million.

The new Zelda did so well that it helped Nintendo hit a new Q1 record for first-party game sales, with 15.7 million copies sold in its first weeks on the market. Our figures indicate that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom made up 35% of Nintendo's total Q1 software sales.

Here's what Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa had to say about Tears of the Kingdom's success:

"In the first quarter of this fiscal year, both sales and profits were notably large for a first quarter mainly due to the concurrent releases of The Super Mario Bros. Movie and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and we made steady progress toward our full-year earnings forecast.

"The new title The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom sold 18.51 million units during the first quarter, which not only significantly increased software unit sales, but also drove hardware sales.

"The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which was released on May 12, has made a major contribution to Q1 sales in the current environment, in which we see widespread adoption of Nintendo Switch hardware and continued play engagement by many consumers. Sell-through of this one title constitutes approximately half of the first-party software sold this fiscal year. Consumers who played the previous entry, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, have been the primary driver, but as the weeks have passed, we have seen that a growing percentage of purchases are being made by consumers who have not yet played that title."