
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity had a pretty great launch for the most part. Though sales for Koei Tecmo's hack-and-slash series aren't usually brilliant, its status as a Breath of the Wild prequel undeniably elevated it.
Within a week of launching, Age Of Calamity had already sold an impressive 3 million units within a week. Outlined in their latest financial report, Koei Tecmo has now revealed it has shipped 3.5 million units worldwide, as of the end of December.
That makes it the best-selling Musou game of all-time, but it doesn't look set to become one of Nintendo's evergreen titles, like Breath of the Wild. It's clear that sales are dropping off quite significantly following that initial launch period.

Moving away from Age of Calamity, Koei Tecmo also confirmed sales figures for additional games. Whilst none of them came close to their latest Musou game, Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends and the Secret Fairy had reached 220k units in Asia, whilst Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIV's re-release came in at a respectable 100k units.
Are you surprised to see Age of Calamity's sales dropping off so quickly? Let us know down below.
[source twitter.com, via koeitecmo.co.jp]
Comments 65
It deserves it, mostly for story reasons, although gameplay was great too. DLC please!
Nobody could've predicted this! /s
I prefer the first Hyrule Warriors myself but it's good to see it doing well.
@FroZtedFlakerZz Now if only the framerate would be good too
DLC would be epic
DLC please! Would happily play more of the game, there just wasn't enough missions for all the characters (particularly towards the end )
I'm fine with the framerate @mariomaster96 the gameplay and story make up for it, however, two-player mode is unplayable
How did it sell more than all versions of the first Hyrule Warriors?That one has content from all Zelda games,including a little of BOTW.While this one is just BOTW.
@Randomname19 Because BotW is revolutionary and everybody has heard of it so they hear that this is almost like a sequel and they go buy it, also it is like actually canon and got way more advertising
Very fun game to play. The reason for the high sales, was due to the fact it was a prequel to botw...
Sorry, I'm BotW obsessed hehe
3.5 M shipped, not sold.
For Nintendo Holiday title, that is a very bad number. But it is relatively amazing number for the genre and effort put by Nintendo in 2020.
This number shows how bad 2020 was for Nintendo Switch owners
Yes I preferred the variety of the first Hyrule warriors, but the story in this game and it's more focused connection to a single game made it ever so slightly more enjoyable to me. Personally I hate DLC as it is almost always 1/10 of the gameplay for 1/3 of the price so I probably won't buy it. But I'll definitely be looking for it because you never know, and the main game is quite good. My wife thinks the story is better than BOTW and honestly I'd trend to agree. The lack of story in BOTW was my main turn off.
@Randomname19 well since botw is the best selling Zelda game of all time by a long shot, and combined with the fact that its also connected to the 100 years before botw. Also, the original hyrule warriors was on the Wii u
Not surprising. Zelda is a huge property, and they marketed this as a prequel to Breath of the Wild, which is the biggest Zelda game of all time.
Not surprised but happy to hear. I do wish K-T would localize more of their games that are already on Switch though.
@CheekyZelda not only on Wii U,its on 3DS and Switch too.You're right about the rest.
I thought that said “best selling Morshu game ever” for a second
I played Hyrule Warriors and Fire Emblem Warriors a ton. Loved em. Still haven't picked this one up yet.
Celebrate with....costumes maybe? 😉 So I can finally dress up non-Link characters.
Bought the download Day 1. Only played a few hours - liked the first one a lot better so far - but my sons completed the game on co-op while my oldest was home for winter break from college so it was worth it.
I'll probably play it all some day, was really expecting DLC, add in some of those characters from the first game. I'll give it a few more months, it's a download, it's not going anywhere.
@mezoomozaa
Shipped pretty much is sold or do you think Nintendo hands out these copies to stores for free?
"For Nintendo Holiday title, that is a very bad number" - Animal Crossing was the holiday title just not released in the holiday period.
"This number shows how bad 2020 was for Nintendo Switch owners" - We are still in the middle of a pandemic, a bit of perspective. Plenty of great games launched on Switch last year, just not all developed or published by Nintendo.
Things could be much, much worse.
Yeah, being a Breath of the Wild tie in, definitely helped with sells, mind you that's not a bad thing amd I did enjoy the game myself.
Really wish they had included online so I could play this as I hate grinding this games solo. Although seeing as they couldn't even optimise co-op to run smoothly I can kind of see why they skipped it.
I liked how they blended BotW elements with Musou gameplay. Too bad the story was so bad and had nothing to do with what happened 100 years prior to BotW. Also super Saiyan Ganon was the most uninspired thing by far.
@Rhaoulos There are actually some really cool theories about how the stories are linked (although most likely they aren't true) they're fun to hear about though. I thought the Ganon was kinda cool too, he was uninspired I guess I'll admit that but I think he was harder and looked better than Calamity Ganon.
Loved this game. Hyrule Warriors was fun, but for some reason I REALLY liked this game way more. I've been grinding and playing it a whole bunch more. I really love the very unique ways everyone plays. Impa and Mipha main here!
this game gave us a more awesome version of calamity ganon/ganondorf type form but seriously cant wait to see wat ganondorf would look like in botw 2 and his proper beast form as well.
@TheFullAndy "Shipped pretty much is sold or do you think Nintendo hands out these copies to stores for free?"
Depends on the contract the retailer has with the distribution. Sometimes games can be returned by the retailer, and have the stock bought back, sometimes the stock can be returned as a credit toward future purchases. Also, and you see this with Ubisoft a lot, when games sit on shelves, game companies allow retailers a "markdown allowance". Hyrule Warriors went on sale a week or so ago, which is pretty early for a Nintendo title. So noting 2.5 mill shipped versus sell thru does mean a lot of difference, especially since "sold" means there's potentially a lot more lifeblood left in the game's shelf life. For example, try to find a physical copy of Hyrule Warriors 1 anywhere...they haven't been on shelves since early to mid 2019 because the initial run of games had to be discounted off.
Not really. We are not buying into a BoTW game. I played Hyrule Warriors, but never finished it, so I'd be reluctant to invest in another Warriors game so soon. Unless it found it way into a 50% off sale. Much like Immortals Fenyx Rising has done.
Still on my first playthrough of BotW, but I do plan to pick up AoC soon! I also enjoyed the first Hyrule Warriors on the Wii U, though it was non-canon.
@Mr-Fuggles777 although I liked your comment and would like local wireless play myself... this game is the perfect example of why Nintendo should release a pro model. To fix all the issues you described.
While I did enjoy the original Hyrule Warriors more, I can't deny that Age of Calamity was a blast as well.
@sixrings Warriors Orochi 4 runs better than this and has online. AoC feels like they blew the budget on the license and had to cut costs in production.
If they start selling the DLCs like they did with the previous Hyrule Warriors, probably it will reach 5 million
Paid overpriced cosmetics incoming as a thanks to everyone who bought it including me.
@Mr-Fuggles777 people who don’t want a pro always point to developers not optimizing the games. Well games wouldn’t need so much optimizing if they just had a bit more power to work with. We can either shame developers or just accept that the switch maybe a bit underpowered in 2021 especially when developers are often used to bare minimum Xbox one s levels of power.
Played the demo and it was really fun. I could see myself purchasing this maybe as just a filler game if there is nothing else for me to play.
@sixrings I fully agree with you that the switch is underpowered.
What I dont see the point in, is a pro switch that still doesn't match current gen hardware because it still won't be optimised enough to run decent ports. What would Nintendo gain form a console that can run PS4 Xs1 ports while still being a gen behind and remain to miss out on new games.
Look at MH Rise, that game is stunning and runs really well without the need for a new console.
Cool, I plan on getting this when I finish BotW. I just got that for christmas along with mario Oddysey, and ive been having tons of fun with them.
I enjoyed the cutscenes and the voice acting but the gameplay got really boring and repetitive towards the end. I'd rate it 75/100
Where is the DLC? Will there be DLC?
It is also the best game in this Genre so far
Hyrule Warriors was the first Musou game I played. I loved it so much I bought the remaster on my Switch. I also played Fire Emblem Warriors and liked it as well. AoC, however, is my favorite. Yes, I miss some of the characters from the first Hyrule Warriors, but I like how the extra stuff is integrated into the main story. Rather than have quest maps to play through, the challenges and upgrades are problems to be solved. I love how all this fits together. I also appreciate the voice acting and cutscenes. It's a solid game overall.
@Mr-Fuggles777 I think the problem with the switch is that it has a hard time handling ps4 and xbox one ports. A lot of the ports are coming from the ps3 and xbox 360 era. If we had a switch pro we would get more xbox one and ps4 ports which is a good thing because even Microsoft and Sony are still supporting their ld systems.
HOWEVER I want a pro not necessarily for third party ports but to help get those 900p Nintendo games up to 1080p and those 30fps Nintendo games up to 60fps. 1080p 60fps 1rst party games is a worth while goal for a pro.
I couldn't get into Hyrule Warriors on the Wii U and have never played a dynasty warriors game. However I love this. The story good, gameplay is fun and there is so much to do. 99 hours in and at 99%. Yes the frame rate is a issue in co-op (switch pro/2 please) but it fine in single player. It still drops in very intense moments. My game of 2020. Just 9 more korok seeds to go😅
@mezoomozaa Animal Crossing was the holiday title, this one was just to accompany it, along with Mario 3D All Stars and the complete edition of Pokemon SS.
Also, I don´t think 2020 was a bad year for the Switch. Animal Crossing, Bioshock, Borderlands, Trials of Mana, Xenoblade remake, Street of Rage 4, Paper Mario OK, Crysis, Ori 2, Hades, Mario 3D AS, Pikmin 3 Deluxe, Sakuna, Pokemon DLCs, Hyrule Warriors AoC, Inmortals Fenyx Rising, Doom Eternal... It was definitely much better than 2018!
@Randomname19 personally the gameplay feels much more enticing than the first one. Characters feel "right" and their gameplay is unique even when they share a class like being bow users. I felt that they are more balanced than in other games, making everyone in the roster viable.
Other factors that I'm pretty sure influenced too: the story is actually decent and could be part of the canon, the art style is beautiful and the music is great.
The way I see it this is a good case of quality over quantity. It's quite probable it will have DLC though.
I couldn't even finish the demo. I can see its appeal but it's just not for me
I preferred the original Hyrule Warriors gameplay overall, but this one having a more focused story is good and it's still fun. Hoping they'll work on stability patches for some of the framerate issues, along with some DLC. Koei Tecmo loves their DLC, and I'll be shocked if there isn't any for Age of Calamity... kinda shocked there wasn't any announced at launch TBH. Though aside from the 4 unplayable characters in the game that have movesets and voice lines already, I'm not sure who they could add. Maybe since time travel is part of the story they could add the Sages the Divine Beasts are named after? Maybe make playable versions of the 4 Blights? I'm interested and eager to see.
Age of Calamity will outsell several mainline Zelda games (it has already outsold Majora's Mask and will soon outsell Skyward Sword).
@westman98
Not if you include the remake of Majora's Mask. Plus the Wii Virtual console sales, the Gamecube collectors edition ect.
@BongoBongo123
Of course remakes or Virtual Console versions don't count.
...Until Persona 5 Strikers is released...
@westman98 Well at least virtual console releases should. The remake; fair enough its different.
I finally figured it out! So, Hyrule Warriors is in my top five favorite video games of all time. To hear that this game was coming out, my excitement was an 11 out of 10. Picked up the game and put it down three times now. Couldn’t understand why I was not enjoying it being a massive Zelda fan. The missions are way too long, the progression is not satisfying, the combat is too slow and complicated, the mini bosses are a chore, and the script is horrible. Does anyone want to add to the list? Make Hyrule Warriors 2!
@BongoBongo123
Virtual Console ports coat $5-$10 and are released decades after the original games on completely different platforms. They are not at all part of the original games' sales.
The amount of sales this game has against ALL THREE versions of the first Hyrule Warriors game combined goes to show that Breath of the Wild was the start of something greater than anything else in Zelda history and its legacy is very reminiscent to that of Persona 5.
@Rpg-lover high “sells” doesn’t make sense. High sales.
I’ve played Fire Emblem warriors previously and while I liked the game, there was no love.
Age of Calamity is different. I have not yet completed the game (so I do not know the story) but I just love this game as it enriches my experience in the BOTW universe.
For me, Age if Calamity is a great exercise in building the hype for BOTW2!
@LUIGITORNADO thanks for the correction.
@westman98
Well they are. Its still the original game, just on a different platform.
@BongoBongo123
But it isn't the original game - it's an emulation of the original game on a completely different platform, released a decade+ after the original game's launch, and at a drastically cheaper price, typically as part of some legacy software service like VC or NSO.
@Terra I am not very familiar with the Warriors/Musou genre. Does this consist entirely of Koei Tecmo games? I am just wondering if this sales record includes games from other companies. Does anyone know? @Dang69?
@COVIDberry It is only Koei Tecmo games...it's like if "From Software" were the only ones who the "Souls-Borne" genre.
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