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The Legend of Zelda

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The Legend of Zelda is a high fantasy action adventure franchise created by Nintendo. The first title released in 1986 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The franchise centers around various incarnations of Link as he rescues Princess Zelda and the Hyrule Kingdom from evil forces, primarily Ganon. As of September 2020, The Legend of Zelda franchise has sold over 123.73 million copies worldwide.

Games[edit | edit source]

Main series[edit | edit source]

Year Platform Title Sales
(millions) 		Ref
1986 The Legend of Zelda 7.37
1986 NES The Legend of Zelda 6.51 [1]
2004 GBA Classic NES Series: The Legend of Zelda 0.86* [2][3]
1987 Zelda II: The Adventure of Link 5.04
1987 NES Zelda II: The Adventure of Link 4.38 [1]
2004 GBA Classic NES Series: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link 0.66* [2][4]
1992 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past 7.43
1992 SNES The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past 4.61 [1]
2002 GBA The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past & Four Swords 2.82 [1]
1993 The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening 10.62
1993 GB The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening 3.83 [1]
1998 GBC The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX 2.22 [1]
2019 Switch The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening 4.57 [1]
1998 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 13.82
1998 N64 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 7.60 [1]
2011 3DS The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D 6.22 [1]
2000 The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 6.64
2000 N64 The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3.36 [1]
2015 3DS The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D 3.28 [1]
2001 Oracle of Seasons & Oracle of Ages 3.99 [1]
2001 GBC The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Ages 3.99 [1]
2003 The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker 6.76
2003 GCN The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker 4.43 [1]
2013 Wii U The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD 2.33 [1]
2004 The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures 0.93
2004 GCN The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures 0.93* [2][5]
2004 The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap 1.76
2004 GBA The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap 1.76 [1]
2006 The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess 9.98
2006 Wii/GCN The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess 8.85 [6][7]
2016 Wii U The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD 1.13 [1]
2007 Phantom Hourglass & Spirit Tracks 7.72
2007 DS The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass 4.76 [1]
2009 DS The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks 2.96 [1]
2011 The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword 3.67
2011 Wii The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword 3.67 [1]
2013 A Link Between Worlds & Tri Force Heroes 5.50
2013 3DS The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds 4.16 [1]
2015 3DS The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes 1.34 [1]
2017 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 21.43
2017 Switch The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 19.74 [8]
Wii U The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 1.69 [1]
Total 112.66

Spin-offs[edit | edit source]

Year Platform Title Sales
(millions) 		Ref
2006 DS Freshly-Picked: Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland 0.23JPN [2]
2007 DS Tingle's Balloon Fight DS N/A
Wii Link's Crossbow Training 5.79 [1]
2009 DSiWare Too Much Tingle Pack N/A
DS Ripened Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love 0.10 [2]
2014 Wii U Hyrule Warriors 1.00 [9]
2015 3DS Hyrule Warriors Legends 0.49* [10]
2016 3DS eshop My Nintendo Picross: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess N/A
2018 Switch Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition 0.46* [11]
2019 Switch eshop Cadence of Hyrule N/A
2020 Switch Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity 3.00 [12]
Total 11.07

Games[edit | edit source]

The Legend of Zelda[edit | edit source]

Appearing in 1986 (JPN) and 1987 (USA), the Legend of Zelda was a bestseller for Nintendo, selling over 120,54 million copies. About 1,690,000 were sold in Japan.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link[edit | edit source]

Despite being the dark horse of the franchise, The Adventure of Link sold very well on the NES since its debut in 1987 (JPN) and 1988 (USA). Over 4.38 million copies of Zelda II have been sold worldwide. About 1,610,000 were sold in Japan.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past[edit | edit source]

A Link to the Past is one of the best-selling SNES games, with 4.61 million units sold worldwide. It was re-released as a Player's Choice title in North America, indicating that it has sold a minimum of one million copies there. About 1,160,000 were sold in Japan.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening[edit | edit source]

The original release of Link's Awakening for the Game Boy has sold approximately 3.83 million units worldwide, including 2.24 million in the Americas.[42] In addition, Link's Awakening DX has sold 2.22 million worldwide, making the total over 6 million for both games. About 540,000 were sold in Japan.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time[edit | edit source]

Ocarina of Time sold 2 million copies during the first 39 days it was available in 1998, and became the best-selling game of that year. During its lifetime, it sold 7.6 million copies worldwide, excluding ports and re-releases, making it the highest selling game on a single platform. About 300,000 were sold in its first week of sales in Japan.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask[edit | edit source]

Majora's Mask sold approximately 314,000 copies in its first week of sales in Japan and has sold 3.36 million copies worldwide. About 601,539 were sold in Japan. Majora's Mask is the direct sequel to the second best selling title, Ocarina of Time in the Zelda franchise. Factors, including its significant difference in comparison to the rest of the series, it's release near the end of the N64's lifetime and because it's requirement of the Expansion Pak, caused sales to be lower than other Zelda titles.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past/Four Swords[edit | edit source]

The game received positive reviews[47] and sold over 1.81 million units, including 293,989 in Japan.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker[edit | edit source]

As of July 2006, it's the fifth best-selling GameCube title in Japan, with 742,000 units. [32]

The Legend of Zelda: Oracles of Seasons and Ages[edit | edit source]

Oracle of Seasons and Ages were critical and commercial successes, selling nearly 4 million copies combined. About 375,000 were sold in Japan.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures[edit | edit source]

Four Swords Adventures was the third best-selling game of June 2004 in North America with 155,000 units, and has since sold 250,000 copies, becoming a part of the Player's Choice line.[20] The game also sold 127,399 units in Japan.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap[edit | edit source]

Minish Cap opened with 96,981 in Japan and sold 235,400 in its lifetime. Worldwide, it moved more than a million copies.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess[edit | edit source]

The Wii version of Twilight Princess sold over one million copies in the Americas, 14,068 during its first two days in Japan, and 240,000 during its first weekend in Europe. During its first week, the game was sold with three of every four Wii purchases and passing one million Wii units sold in North America within three months. In its first month of availability, the GameCube version sold 32,900 units, and briefly outsold the Wii version. After three months of availability, the GameCube version sold over one million units worldwide, and after four months of availability, the GameCube version sold over one million units in North America. The game has sold 5.23 million copies on the Wii as of March 1, 2008, and 1.59 million on the GameCube as of March 31, 2007.

In spite of the game's success in North America and Europe, Miyamoto has publicly expressed disappointment with Twilight Princess' modest sales in Japan and commented: “Well, I think a lot of people who bought the Wii are not necessarily the types of people who are interested in playing that kind of game. And a lot of the people who would want to play it [due to chronic shortages of the console] can't find a Wii! But mostly, I think it's that there are fewer and fewer people who are interested in playing a big role-playing game like Zelda."

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass[edit | edit source]

Phantom Hourglass shipped 400,000 copies to Japanese retailers, and over 350,000 of those sold in the first week. These sales on par with The Wind Waker's release (around 350,000) in Japan, and just behind Ocarina of Time (500,000) and Majora's Mask (400,000) as the third best opening week for a Zelda title. In its United States release, the game was the fifth best-selling of October 2007, with 262,800 copies sold. As of December 31, 2007, Phantom Hourglass has sold 4.13 million copies worldwide, with 910,000 of those copies being sold in Japan. As of now it is the best selling handheld Zelda title.

Link's Crossbow Training[edit | edit source]

As of yet Link's Crossbow Training for Wii has sold a total 2.75 million copies. Between April 4th and September 8th of 2008, Nintendo sold 1.05 million copies (250,000 in Japan and 800,000 overseas).

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild[edit | edit source]

Breath of the Wild sold 130,000 units (96,000 on the Nintendo Switch and 34,000 on the Wii U) opening day in France.[13] In Japan the game sold 190,060 in the first 72 hours.[14] As of June 30, 2020 Breath of the Wild has sold 18.60 million copies. It is the best selling game in the Zelda franchise.

Notes[edit | edit source]

  • * identify VGChartz numbers
  • JPN identify currently only Japanese sales number available
  • Two games based on The Legend of Zelda were converted into Game & Watch systems: Zelda (Game & Watch) and The Legend of Zelda Game Watch.
  • Freshly-Picked: Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland was only released in Japan and Europe.
  • Ripened Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love was only released in Japan.
  • My Nintendo Picross: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was released as a My Nintendo award.

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 Nintendo software and hardware sales data from 1983 to present
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 https://sites.google.com/site/gamedatalibrary/game-search
  3. ↑ hihttps://www.vgchartz.com/game/26551/classic-nes-series-the-legend-of-zelda/sales
  4. ↑ https://www.vgchartz.com/game/3266/classic-nes-series-zelda-ii-the-adventure-of-link/sales
  5. ↑ https://www.vgchartz.com/game/2397/the-legend-of-zelda-four-swords-adventures/sales
  6. ↑ https://www.nintendo.co.jp/titles/20010000019307
  7. ↑ As of Dec. 2014- Wii: 7.26
    GC: 1.43
  8. ↑ https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/finance/software/index.html
  9. ↑ Whitehead, Thomas (January 27, 2015). Koei Tecmo Releases Awesome Hyrule Warriors Wallpapers to Celebrate One Million Units Shipped. Archived from the original on January 27, 2015. Retrieved on January 27, 2015.
  10. ↑ https://www.vgchartz.com/game/85766/hyrule-warriors-legends/sales
  11. ↑ https://www.vgchartz.com/game/220630/hyrule-warriors-definitive-edition/sales
  12. ↑ https://nintendoeverything.com/hyrule-warriors-age-of-calamity-devs-on-how-the-game-came-to-be-nintendo-wanting-it-to-be-a-new-experience-more/
  13. ↑ http://www.lefigaro.fr/secteur/high-tech/2017/03/07/32001-20170307ARTFIG00195-la-nintendo-switch-bat-tous-les-records-de-ventes-en-france.php
  14. ↑ https://www.famitsu.com/news/201703/07128430.html
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