The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Is Already The Second Best Selling Game Of 2023

gameinformer.com:

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, the ambitious follow-up to 2017’s Breath of the Wild, finally hit Switch last month. We’ve now learned, thanks to video game analyst group Circana, that it was, unsurprisingly, the best selling game of the month. However, it’s also already the second best selling game of 2023, behind Hogwarts Legacy. 

What’s even more impressive is that Circana’s Tears of the Kingdom numbers do not include digital sales for the game – only physical, according to Circana executive director Mat Piscatella. That it’s the second best selling game of 2023 on just its physical numbers alone means this game sold exceptionally well. And there’s a good chance it might be the year’s best selling game if digital numbers are one day added. 

Here’s a look at the top 10 best selling games of May 2023: 

And here’s a look at the top 10 best selling games of 2023 so far: 

In Circana’s report, Piscatella says U.S. consumer spending on video game hardware, software, and accessories, totaled $4.1 billion last month, representing a 12% increase compared to May 2022. However, year-to-date consumer spending so far, compared to 2022, is flat, coming in at $21.8 billion. 

Spending on video game content – software – grew 9% last month compared to May 2022, reaching $3.6 billion, Piscatella reports. On the physical games market, software spending reached its highest May total last month since 2014. For hardware, consumers spent $427 million last month, the highest in hardware spending in a May month since 2008. Year-to-date hardware spending is 23% higher overall compared to 2022 spending, coming in at $2.2 billion. 

Unsurprisingly, given how well Tears of the Kingdom sold last month, Nintendo’s Switch hardware was the