Updated sales data from Circana has revealed that only one game is outpacing The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's sales in 2023 so far: the open world Harry Potter action-RPG Hogwarts Legacy. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has been an absolutely massive success for Nintendo, with the latest entry in the long-running Zelda franchise being named the top-selling game of May 2023.Many could have guessed that Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom would be the best-selling game release in May. After all, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom broke sales records, becoming the fastest-selling Nintendo game of all time with 10 million units sold in just three days. That combined with positive word of mouth and the fact that Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the highest-rated game of the year so far should ensure that the game has serious legs.Hogwarts Legacy is currently the only game that has sold more than Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom in 2023 to date. The Harry Potter action-RPG broke plenty of sales records of its own when it launched for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X earlier this year. The recently-released PS4 and Xbox One ports of Hogwarts Legacy seem to have given it another boost, as it was the second-best selling game of May 2023, behind only Zelda.
Best-Selling Games of 2023 So Far
- Hogwarts Legacy
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
- Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
- Resident Evil 4 (2023)
- MLB The Show 23
- Dead Island 2
- FIFA 23
- Dead Space (2023)
- Madden NFL 23
It's possible The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will eventually overtake Hogwarts Legacy's sales, but it has an uphill battle ahead of it. Whereas Hogwarts Legacy is a multi-platform game available for almost every console, Tears of the Kingdom is a Nintendo Switch exclusive. Not only that, but Hogwarts Legacy is also coming to the Switch, with the Switch port of the game scheduled to drop this coming November. If the Switch port of Hogwarts Legacy is a success, it could be just what the game needs to solidify itself as 2023's best-selling new video game release.
Hogwarts Legacy being available for multiple platforms while Tears of the Kingdom being only available for the Switch means it's not really a fair fight, but it does go to show just how big the new Zelda game has been. Despite only being available for one console, Tears of the Kingdom has been able to jump ahead of every other game besides Hogwarts Legacy, and it should have consistently strong sales for months, if not years, to come.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is out now, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.