Key points
- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom has gotten off to a good start on Nintendo Switch in Japan.
- The game sold 201,210 physical copies in Japan during its first week.
- Echoes of Wisdom beat the first week sales of 2019's Link's Awakening in Japan.
This is revealed by new sales data from Japan The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom got off to a good start on Nintendo Switch. While Echoes of wisdom may not achieve the same levels of success as The tears of the Kingdom in the region, initial sales are still encouraging for Nintendo's latest entry into the market Zelda franchising.
The last few years have been exciting for Zelda fans. The award-winning The tears of the Kingdomthe sequel to Breath of the wildera released in 2023 and a live-action Zelda the film was announced later that year. In 2024, Nintendo announced Echoes of wisdoma new top-down perspective Zelda game developed by Grezzo. With the game now available on Switch, fans are starting to realize how well it's doing in terms of sales.
According to physical sales data from Famitsu, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom was the best-selling title in Japan for the week of September 23 to 29, 2024. With 201,210 copies sold, the game beat its closest competitor, The Legend of Heroes: Kai no Kiseki – Farewell, O Zemuria. EA Sports FC25 AND Moeyo Otome Doushi: Kayu Koigatari were the other new games at the top of the list, while the most popular ones were Team Asobi's Astrobots it cracked the top 10 again. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe AND Animal Crossing: New Horizonstwo of Nintendo's all-time favorites, came in eighth and tenth place respectively.
Estimated physical game sales for Japan (September 23-29, 2024)
1. [NSW] Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom – 200,121 / NEW
2. [PS5] The Legend of Heroes: Kai no Kiseki – Farewell, O Zemuria – 29,554 / New
3. [PS4] The Legend of Heroes: Kai no Kiseki – Farewell, O Zemuria – 17,838 / New
4. [NSW] EA Sports FC 25 – 13,332 / New
5. [PS5] EA Sports FC 25 – 13,265 / New
6. [PS5] Astrobot – 6,381 / 34,902
7. [PS4] EA Sports FC 25 – 6,379 / New
8. [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 6,030/6,011,624
9. [NSW] Moeyo Otome Doushi: Kayu Koigatari – 5,396 / New
10. [NSW] Animal Crossing: New Horizons – 5,383 / 7,920,305
While sales look promising, the game fell short The tears of the KingdomThe sales of the first previous week recorded a considerable margin. After its release in May 2023, The tears of the Kingdom it sold over 1 million units in its first week in Japan. However, Echoes of wisdom it's a very different game. Furthermore, The tears of the Kingdom it probably received a publicity boost, given its level of innovation Breath of the wild was originally on the Switch.
With Echoes of wisdom Only released for a few days at the time of these sales figures, it will be interesting to see if the game can maintain its momentum in the coming weeks. It is worth noting that the game outperformed the Link's Awakening remake on Switch of over 50,000 copies in the first week. The 2019 remake of the Game Boy game proved to be a significant success for Nintendo, selling more than 6.46 million units. Given the Nintendo Switch's much larger install base at this point in its lifecycle, Echoes of wisdom could achieve similar results, if not better, especially considering the very positive reviews it has received from critics. However, fans will have to wait and see what kind of staying power the game has on the charts in Japan and other regions.
