The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the second biggest Nintendo launch in UK history

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the biggest boxed video game launch of the year in the UK.

GfK also reveals that the game is Nintendo's second biggest release in UK history by revenue, behind 2008's Wii Fit. If we discount the Balance Board price, it is actually the biggest Nintendo release by revenue. In terms of units, the game only lags behind Wii Fit and combined sales of Pokémon games (namely: combined sales of Sun and Moon, and Scarlet and Violet).

Biggest Nintendo UK Launches (Week One Revenue)

Biggest Nintendo UK Launches (Week One Unit Sales)

Its opening week sales eclipse the boxed sales of Hogwarts Legacy by more than 50%. This is just boxed sales, and Hogwarts, which was released on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series S and X in February, did have a very strong digital launch. Switch digital sales are typically much lower than the other platforms, so it's unknown if the game outsold Hogwarts overall (Nintendo doesn't share digital data with the charts companies).

It is easily the biggest Zelda launch in history, selling more than 2.7 times the opening week sales of Breath of the Wild from 2017.

Biggest Zelda Game Launches (UK Week One Sales, Physical Only)

It is already the eighth biggest Zelda game of all time, ahead of 2011's Skyward Sword on Wii and 2003's The Wind Waker on GameCube. In terms of revenue, it is actually the fourth biggest Zelda game of all time, behind 1998's Ocarina of Time, 2006's Twilight Princess and Breath of the Wild.

It's not quite the biggest Switch launch of all time, although it comes pretty close. Its opening week sales were 12% lower than last year's Pokémon Scarlet and Violet release. That's in unit sales, when it comes to revenue, Zelda is the biggest Switch release ever, with revenue up 8% over Scarlet and Violet. There was a popular limited edition of Tears of the Kingdom, which carried a price of over £100, which helped pull up the revenue figures.

The popularity of Tears of Kingdom has actually boosted its predecessor, Breath of the Wild. That game rose 31% in boxed sales week-on-week and is at No.8 in the charts this week.

Biggest Zelda Games (UK All-Time Sales, Units)

Outside of Zelda, TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge 3 is the only other new game in the charts. The Maxiumum Games title managed No.31 in the boxed charts.

Hogwarts Legacy, which was at No.1 last week, drops to No.2 with a 68% sales drop week-on-week. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order drops a place to No.3, with sales down 50% week-on-week. FIFA 23 goes up a spot to No.4 with sales rising 43%, while Mario Kart 8: Deluxe drops to No.5 (sales are flat week-on-week).

The other semi-recent release, Dead Island 2, falls three places to No.6 with sales down 51% week-on-week.

Here is the GfK UK Boxed Top Ten for the week ending May 13, 2023: