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The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild tagged as franchise’s bestselling game

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The critically acclaimed The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has achieved a new milestone, claiming the title as the bestselling entry in the beloved franchise.

Breath of the Wild has now sold the most copies among all The Legend of Zelda games in the series’ 33-year history, according to The NPD Group’s Mat Piscatella, who shared the information on Twitter.

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Not sure how I missed it, but The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild became the best-selling Zelda game some time ago. Here are the top 5 best-selling Zelda property games in the U.S. life to date. pic.twitter.com/FBVozDoPxB

— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) August 16, 2019

Breath of the Wild took more than two years to surpass the previous record holder, Twilight Princess. The simultaneous launch of Breath of the Wild on the Nintendo Switch and Wii U likely played a part in its rise to the top, especially since Twilight Princess was also released on two platforms, the GameCube and Wii.

Rounding out the top five for the bestselling Zelda games are Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, both for the Nintendo 64, and surprisingly, Link’s Crossbow Training for the Wii, which outsold classics such as Link’s Awakening for the Game Boy, The Wind Waker for the GameCube, and Skyward Sword for the Wii.

It should be noted that the rankings only take into account each game’s original release, so re-releases and remasters do not contribute to the sales totals. This means that the Nintendo Switch remake of Link’s Awakening, which is set to launch on September 20, will not allow the game to slide into fifth place on the bestselling entries list.

Breath of the Wild taking the top spot is not a surprise, as it is arguably the best so far in the long-running franchise with its beautiful open world, intense combat mechanics, and deep story. It also helped that it was a launch title for the Nintendo Switch, which took the video game industry by storm to place Nintendo back on the map after the disaster that is the Wii U.

With the success of Breath of the Wild, Nintendo revealed at E3 2019 that a sequel is in development. Details on the game remain scarce, but if it follows the formula of its predecessor, it may also have the potential to challenge for the title as the bestselling The Legend of Zelda game.

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