Nintendo announced Zelda remake sold 5.2 million copies in four days

This is a new development in a story we reported earlier: Nintendo reveals Switch 2 Ocarina integration in Ocarina of Time remake trailer.

Nintendo announced that The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake for Switch 2 sold more than 5.2 million copies worldwide in four days after its November 5, 2026 launch.

The figure came in Nintendo’s own announcement from Nintendo Co., Ltd., headquartered in Kyoto, Minami-ku, Japan, under President and Representative Director Shuntaro Furukawa. The announcement covered the first four days after the Switch 2 remake’s worldwide launch on November 5, 2026, and the worldwide total includes 810,000 units sold in Japan.

The remake launched worldwide on November 5, 2026 as a full remake of the 1998 Nintendo 64 original. Link travels between two time periods as Young Link and Adult Link, and the game supports ZELDA NOTES, a service within the Nintendo Switch App for compatible smart devices.

Nintendo called the result the highest global first-four-days sales for any Nintendo-published Switch 2 game, making the remake the fastest-selling Nintendo-published title on the platform since launch.

Eurogamer noted that Nintendo specified the record covers only Nintendo-published games, while adding that Nintendo’s titles are the most popular on Switch 2, so the record presumably holds overall. Polygon cautioned that Nintendo reports sales only for its own games, leaving open the possibility that a third-party title sold more.

Ocarina of Time is the second best-selling Switch 2 game overall, passing Donkey Kong Bananza’s lifetime total of 5.05 million units as of September 30, 2026, while Mario Kart World leads at 16.48 million units. Nintendo Life derived the ranking by comparing the four-day Ocarina total with Bananza’s lifetime sales figure from Nintendo’s financial results through the end of September 2026. Polygon likewise cited Nintendo’s most recent financial figures for Bananza’s 5.05 million and said Mario Kart World has sold over 16 million copies.

In the UK, Ocarina of Time was the second-biggest physical launch in Zelda series history behind Tears of the Kingdom and the biggest physical video game launch of 2026. Nintendo Life and Nintendo Everything both reported the UK performance, and Nintendo Everything repeated the same announcement including the Japan breakdown.

The 1998 Nintendo 64 original sold 7.6 million units overall, according to Video Game Sales wiki as cited by Nintendo Life. Nintendo Life offered the original’s lifetime total as added context when comparing the remake’s early sales to the 1998 Nintendo 64 game.

Reviews are strong. Nintendo Life gave the remake 9/10, and Eurogamer awarded it five golden stars. Beebom reported a 96 Metascore on Metacritic and 95 on OpenCritic, calling it the highest-rated game of 2026.

Eurogamer’s Christian Donlan wrote, “Alongside great judgement and clever tweaks, this astonishing remake has a proper ace up its sleeve.” Nintendo Life called it “the best way to play one of the most seminal games of all time,” and Beebom’s review roundup published November 4, 2026 listed scores from VGC (5/5), Eurogamer (5/5), GamesRadar+ (5/5), IGN (9/10), GameSpot (9/10), Game Informer (9.25/10), and TechRadar (5/5).

Beebom named the remake the highest-rated game of 2026 in its review roundup published November 4, 2026, while noting the original Ocarina of Time remains the highest-rated game of all time with a Metacritic score of 99.

The digital and physical sales split is not yet clear, Nintendo Life said on November 11, 2026, and the outlet said at time of writing that the digital and physical breakdown was unknown. Famitsu’s Japanese boxed charts later in the week should give a slightly better picture.

Circana will publish its November sales report on December 17, and Nintendo Everything said US sales details might take longer to arrive because of that schedule.

Eurogamer reported a jump in US Switch 2 sales tied to the game’s release and remarked on launching in November near GTA 6. The release arrived as GTA 6 was approaching its review embargo and GTA 6 eligibility for The Game Awards was confirmed.

Polygon called Ocarina of Time Nintendo’s second-biggest hit of 2026 so far, behind Tomodachi Life on the original Switch at 8.8 million copies, but projected it would overtake Tomodachi Life before year’s end. Polygon also noted the remake’s reveal was controversial because of its radically different art style, but said the game has drawn widespread critical acclaim and is a strong awards contender.

Because Nintendo only publishes sales figures for its own titles, a third-party Switch 2 game could have sold more than Ocarina of Time or Donkey Kong Bananza, though Polygon doubted such a title exists.