Zelda: Video Game Success In Numbers.
Since its release in Japan in 1986, The Legend of Zelda video game series has become a global success. We propose to retrace the history of this gaming phenomenon in 5 figures.
20 games make up the main saga.
Since its creation by Shigeru Miyamoto, who is also responsible for Super Mario and Donkey Kong, the Zelda franchise has become as legendary as its title! In over 35 years of existence, this action-adventure video game series produced by Nintendo has been enriched with numerous titles.
To date, 20 games are officially part of the main saga, not counting re-releases, remakes, and spin-off games. This franchise, whose popularity continues to grow over the years, has developed the adventures of Link and Princess Zelda on various Nintendo consoles: the NES, Game Boy, and Nintendo DS, as well as the GameCube, Wii, and Nintendo Switch.
125 million games have been sold worldwide.
In addition to being an essential video game series for millions of fans worldwide, The Legend of Zelda is one of the biggest commercial successes of the Japanese company Nintendo.
Since its inception, the Zelda franchise has allowed Nintendo to sell almost 125 million games worldwide. And this number is expected to be quickly surpassed!
The new installment, titled Tears of the Kingdom, which was released on Friday, May 12, 2023, is expected to excite fans and break records.
The license has generated more than 6 billion euros.
With millions of fans worldwide, The Legend of Zelda is a real financial windfall for Nintendo. In 2021, Nintendo estimated that this franchise had allowed them to generate over 6 billion euros in revenue, thanks to the sale of video games and associated consoles, as well as numerous derivative products.
A cartridge of this game was sold for nearly €800,000.
Another proof of the fans' enthusiasm for The Legend of Zelda, a game from this franchise has held the record for the most expensive video game in the world for some time.
In 2021, a still sealed cartridge from 1987 was sold for $870,000 (approximately €800,000) at an auction in the United States.
Since then, the record has been broken by a Super Mario 64 cartridge that sold for $1.56 million, approximately €1.43 million!
French sales estimated at 350,000 copies for Tears of the Kingdom.
The release of the latest game in this series, Tears of the Kingdom, on Nintendo Switch on May 12, 2023, was an eagerly awaited event by fans worldwide. This new installment is expected to allow Nintendo to generate record profits in 2023 and could even boost sales of the Nintendo Switch console, just like the game Breath of the Wild did when it was released in 2017...
In France alone, the Fnac Darty group anticipates a big commercial success and plans to sell at least 350,000 copies. For comparison, the other current phenomenon game Elden Ring sold 302,000 units in 2022 and Pokémon Scarlet sold 300,000 units...
To date, Breath of the Wild, released in 2017, is the best-selling game in the franchise, having sold 21.45 million copies on the Nintendo Switch and 1.67 million copies on the Wii U. Will Link's new adventures beat this sales record? Only time will tell!
