Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom sold over 10 million copies in the USA, creating multiple records
Although the Nintendo Switch adventure leads the ranking for May, the best-selling game title of 2023 is still in the hands of Hogwarts Legacy.
The battle to be the best-selling game of 2023 is very close, and everything indicates that it will continue to get more complicated with the releases of the second half of the year. Be that as it may, there is no doubt that Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has risen as one of the most successful titles of recent times since Link’s last great adventure sold 10 million units in its first three days. However, this milestone does not manage to unseat the enormous influence of the Hogwarts Legacy in the US.
YTD 2023 Top 20 Best-Selling Premium Games (Dollar Sales, Excludes add-on content) pic.twitter.com/IMPq3kBike
— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) June 27, 2023
Mat Piscatella, executive director at the Circana analysis center, has shared through his Twitter account the ranking of best-selling games in the North American country in May 2023. As expected, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom ranks as the most popular season of the moment, surpassing other highly successful adventures such as Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Dead Island 2 or MLB: The Show 23, a very followed saga in this territory.
However, a single month on the market does not make Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom the best-selling game of 2023 in the US. This title remains in the hands of Hogwarts Legacy, which continues to enjoy great popularity thanks to the release of its old-gen versions. Of course, it is still impressive that the experience in Hyrule has reached second place at the Top in just a few weeks; We will see how the list evolves over the next few months.
Best-selling games in the USA in May
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo)
Hogwarts Legacy (Warner Bros. Interactive)
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (Electronic Arts)
Dead Island 2 (Plaion)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022) (Activision Blizzard)
MLB: The Show 23 (Various distributors)
FIFA 23 (Electronic Arts)
Mario Kart 8 (Nintendo)
Resident Evil 4 (2023) (Capcom)
Far Cry 6 (Ubisoft)
Best-selling games in the US in 2023 to date
Hogwarts Legacy (Warner Bros. Interactive)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022) (Activision Blizzard)
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (Electronic Arts)
Resident Evil 4 (2023) (Capcom)
MLB: The Show 23 (Various distributors)
Dead Island 2 (Plaion)
FIFA 23 (Electronic Arts)
Dead Space (2023) (Electronic Arts)
Madden NFL 23 (Electronic Arts)
Console sales in the US
And how is the console market going in the country? During the days of May, Nintendo Switch rose as the leading console both in units sold and in accumulated dollars. Player spending reached an all-time high with the Big N hybrid, thus ranking as the second most powerful month in unit sales. However, PS5 continues to reign as the most popular platform of 2023 in both units sold and dollars raised.
A May of records in the United States
In terms of overall revenue, gamers in the United States spent $4.1 billion on video games, hardware, and accessories during May, up 12% from May last year. In software, it grew 9% compared to the same month in 2022, standing at 3.6 billion dollars. In consoles, the increase was more striking: 56% more than in May of the previous year, which means a total income of 338 million dollars.
There are records in both sectors: the United States has experienced the best May in terms of console sales since 2008, and the best May in terms of physical video game sales since 2014. The Switch has also posted its best May behind 2020, and PS5 (which remains the best-selling console of the year in dollars and units) has seen undetermined “double-figure percentage” growth. The rest of the consoles have sold less this May than in 2022, although the general spending on hardware so far in 2023 is 23% higher than last year (with 2.2 billion dollars in total).
