The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Crosses 1 Million Units Sold at Retail on Switch in Japan Alone

Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has crossed a major milestone- it has crossed 1 million units sold on Nintendo Switch alone in Japan, just at retail- making this the first singular Zelda SKU to do so since The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time launched on the Nintendo 64 all the way back in 1998. This marks the end, and indeed, reversal, of the steady decline in sales the Zelda franchise had been experiencing in Japan over the last two decades.

Counting digital and Wii U version sales, the game will probably be closer to 1.3-1.5 million units sold in Japan (which is still a fraction of the 10 million units the game has sold worldwide). It also joins the rare list of console games that have sold over a million copies in Japan- especially over the last 18 or so years.

Here’s something else that is incredible- the game has not so far, since it launched, in over 60 weeks, left the Top 20 charts even once- which has to be some sort of record. Of course, this is extremely well deserved success. The game is incredible, probably the best game ever made. It is good to see that audiences around the world, including in Japan, where Zelda games, open world games, and console games typically do not do well, have recognized that fact and bought it in droves.