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Zelda smashes records to become year's biggest UK boxed game launch

And it's already the eighth-biggest Zelda game of all time.

Link in the The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom looking at his arm outstretched, with the character basked in the orange glow of a sunrise.
Image credit: Nintendo

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the biggest boxed video game launch of the year so far in the UK.

According to our sister site GamesIndustry.biz, that makes it the series' biggest ever launch week in the UK, surpassing the launches of even early games like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time which were only available physically at the time.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Review - TEARS OF THE KINGDOM GAMEPLAYWatch on YouTube

According to GI and UK chart firm GfK, Tears of the Kingdom's instant pole position pushes Hogwarts Legacy from its top spot as bigges boxed game of the year so far, and moves Star Wars Jedi: Survivor into third place.

Interestingly, Breath of the Wild has also seen a boost in sales, jumping from last week's 19th place to 8th this week. The only other new entry into the boxed chart is TT Isle of Man: Ride which debuts at No.31.

Whilst its not the largest Switch launch ever in terms of unit sales - that record remains with last year's Pokémon Scarlet and Violet - Tears of the Kingdom is already the series' fourth biggest Zelda game of all time, behind Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, and Breath of the Wild.

Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is, however, the biggest Switch release in terms of revenue, topping Scarlet and Violet by 8 per cent, which has been attributed to the game's pricey limited edition.

ICYMI, Metacritic has finally opened The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom open to user reviews, and over three hundred players have left mixed of negative reviews, citing that the sequel hasn't address the purported issues of its predecessor, has too many performance issues, or - in some players' view - is just "boring".

As you may well expect, this is countered by hundreds of glowing reviews and perfect 10/10 scores, who praise the game's plethora of activities, its impressive world, and its story.

In the Eurogamer The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom review, we called the sequel "a terrific Breath of the Wild follow-up with some brilliant new systems, amazing views and more dungeon-type spaces, plus a slightly deadening emphasis on gathering resources", awarding it 4 stars out of 5.

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Vikki Blake

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When​ ​her friends​ ​were falling in love with soap stars, Vikki was falling in love with​ ​video games. She's a survival horror survivalist​ ​with a penchant for​ ​Yorkshire Tea, men dressed up as doctors and sweary words. She struggles to juggle a fair-to-middling Destiny/Halo addiction​ ​and her kill/death ratio is terrible.

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