Zelda: Breath of The Wild needs two million copies sold to become profitable

Published: June 29, 2016 3:55 PM /

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Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild

Zelda: Breath of the Wild needs to sell over two million copies in order to become profitable for Nintendo, a target that seems feasible considering how the past titles in the series have fared financially.

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At first, two million copies sold for the newest Zelda game seems to represent a high target for even an AAA game, but in reality it is much more normal. Games like Tomb Raider 'failed' at 3.4 million copies sold, while Alien Isolation's sales numbers were considered a 'weak' at 2.1 million copies sold.

However, if one considers all the variables behind the latest Zelda title, it seems like a sure success already. Considering that Zelda: Breath of the Wild is set to release on the Nintendo NX as a launch title and the Nintendo Wii U as it's swan song in 2017, there doesn't seem many plausible scenarios in which Breath of the Wild is a financial failure.

Furthermore, if we compare the two million profitability margin with how the last main game in the Zelda series to be released, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, it sold 3.52 million copies worldwide within the first five months of being released. These sales numbers are relatively close with The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, which sold 3.27 million copies worldwide within the first five months of being released, which like Breath of the Wild was a duo system release.

The fact that Zelda: Breath of the Wild only needs to sell at least two million copies is interesting, especially when one considers that 300 people have worked on the title over the game's five year development cycle, with about 100 developers currently working on it as Breath of the Wild nears its release date of early 2017.


Quick Take:

Given the sales numbers of the previous modern Zelda games, two million copies sold seems to be an understandable and financially responsible goal to be striving for, an absolute rarity in today's AAA industry. Hopefully, this means that Zelda: Breath of the Wild is as good as it looks, but it'll be close to a year until we find out.

What do you think of Zelda: Breath of the Wild needing to sell two million copies? Are you going to buy it? Let us know in the comments!

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| Staff Writer

Patrick is a former Staff Writer for TechRaptor and has been gaming on every console he could get since he could hold a controller. He’s been writing for… More about Patrick

More Info About This Game
Learn more about The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Developer
Nintendo
Publisher
Nintendo
Platforms
Nintendo Switch, Wii U
Release Date
March 3, 2017 (Calendar)
Genre
RPG
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