Published , by TJ Denzer
Published , by TJ Denzer
In the Zelda pantheon, there are perhaps few games as divisive as The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Even still, it’s a Zelda game and its HD release this last year took aim at ridding it of many of the issues that soured players on it when it first launched on the Wii. These improvements and its introduction to a newer audience seem to have paid off, too. According to Nintendo’s most recent quarterly reporting, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD has already sold 3.6 million copies since its launch in July 2021.
Nintendo reported this rather impressive number in the details of its Q2 2022 financial reporting, released on November 4, 2021. While there were other notable points of the reporting that included the reduction of Switch console production forecasts and the raise of profit guidance for the rest of Nintendo’s fiscal year, the details on game sales had some interesting tidbits as well. Notably, since its launch in July, Skyward Sword HD has put up unit sales of over 3.6 million, making it a hefty seller for Nintendo throughout the previous quarter.
By comparison, the previous title before Skyward Sword HD, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening remake came out in September 2019 and had sold 5.49 million units as of March 31, 2021, according to Nintendo’s 2021 fiscal year-end report. It’s arguable which game is better in quality, but Skyward Sword HD had quite some improvements to warrant another look, notably including reworking combat to ditch motion controls if players desired and also the option to limit the intrusive Fi’s constant guidance. Ridding the game of pain points like these alongside introducing it to a new audience has seemingly paid off for Nintendo.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD may be padding for the much-anticipated Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel, but even if it is buffer, it’s turned out to be another decent win for Nintendo this previous quarter.