The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was widely recognized as one of the freshest, most different Zelda titles at the time of its release when the Nintendo Switch debuted. Further, that seems to have translated to commercial performance, as Breath of the Wild has outsold its predecessors by a long shot.
Called 2017's best game by many, Breath of the Wild was praised for its new mechanics and unique style in comparison to the rest of the Zelda series. It currently stands as one of the Switch's most successful t🦄itles as such, and its sales have far exceeded the records set by previous games in the series.
Although a few Zelda entries are absent, the graph below shows the worldwide sales of each Zelda title in the series and illustrates Breath of the Wild's sheer success.
Titles like the recent The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening are notably absent from the above image. However, for all intents and purposes, Breath of the Wild is illustrated to be, far and away, the best-selling Zelda game. Having sold approximately 17.95 million units points o☂ut that this is split between the Wii U and Nintendo Switch iterations of the critically-acc𝐆laimed first-party title.
Yet, the second best-selling game in the series, Twilight Princess, sold about 8.85 million units between its Gamecube and Nintendo Wii ver🌊sions.
Before Twilight Princess, Ocarina of Time had set a record by selling almost eight million units. This is compared to the previous record-holder, the original Legend of Zelda, which had sold just above six million units.
This is quite an accomplishment on Nintendo's behalf. It speaks simultaneously to the success of Breath of the Wild and the apparent growth in popularity of the Zelda franchise.
Hopefully, the sequel to Breath of the Wild sees similar success to its predecessors. As seen in the chart, Zelda follow-ups on the same console have seen fewer sales. Majora's Mask and Skyward Sword are both examples of this, which both sold less than half as much as Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess, respectively. However, it is possible that the second Breath of the Wild will keep up the momentum by bearing the same name as its predecessor and maintaining the support from Breath of the Wild fans.
Source: