The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild shook the world when it released with the launch of the Nintendo Switch back in early 2017. It mixed up the formula that the Zelda series was known for –getting weapons, going through a dungeon, fighting a boss, rinse and repeat– by creating a living, breathing open-world that let you do whatever you wanted in whatever order you wanted. You could go straight to the fight with Ganon from the get-go or you can explore the world of Hyrule to your heart’s content until you felt compelled and prepared to go toe-to-toe with the evil entity.
The sales of the game in Japan were the highest for the Zelda series since Ocarina of Time for the Nintendo 64, but Breath of the Wild has actually surpassed the 1998 hit, making it the best-selling Zelda game of all time in Japan (via Nintendo Everything). Ocarina of Time has sold 1,257,205 copies for the N64 while Breath of the Wild has now sold 1,258,611 copies with the Wii U and Switch versions combined.
Here’s a full breakdown of the sales that the Zelda series has seen in Japan:
[NSW+WIU] The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild # (Nintendo) {2017.03.03} (¥6.980) – 1.258.611
[N64] The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo) {1998.11.21} (¥6.800) – 1.257.205
[NDS] The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo) {2006.06.23} (¥4.800) – 908.434
[N64] The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (Nintendo) {2000.04.27} (¥6.800) – 876.575
[GCN] The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (Nintendo) {2002.12.13} (¥6.800) – 837.391
[NDS] The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (Nintendo) {2009.12.23} – 700.373
[WII+GCN] The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo) {2006.12.02} (¥6.476) – 642.607
[3DS] The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (Nintendo) {2011.06.16} (¥4.800) – 613.328
[3DS] The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D # (Nintendo) {2015.02.14} (¥5.076) – 464.196
[3DS] The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds # (Nintendo) {2013.12.26} (¥4.800) – 443.630
[WII] The Legend: Skyward Sword (Nintendo) {2011.11.23} (¥6.476) – 358.601
Seeing how well the Nintendo Switch has been selling all over the world, it’s no surprise that the latest entry in the Zelda series has performed so well on the new hybrid console.
