UK Charts: Not Even Street Fighter 6 Can Knock Zelda: TOTK Off Its Throne

What makes me smile is that Metroid Prime Remastered is actually still in the Top 40. Expected it to have a decent launch window before tumbling out.

I still curious with 30 in 1 Game Collection Vol. 1 that still on Top 40.

Why don't they play the volume 2 ?

Nothing can dethrone Totk or
The One True King.

Oh well, at least it put fifa down a spot

Wow there is an evercade game in the charts
It's at the bottom but wow that's really cool
Sorry just had to point it out

They didn't put Sakura in SF6 and that's the result of such habits

@Mirage-5x5 Holy crap I never thought Evercade would be something to see in the charts.

That's pretty impressive. TotK is an absolute beast, you love to see it.

Not all that surprising that Zelda is outselling SF6 in it's opening week tbh. Although Street Fighter is particularly popular, the fighting genre is pretty niche...whereas Zelda is one of the heaviest hitters on what has been the highest selling platform for the past few years. BotW has over 4x the lifetime sales of SFV, and the latter game has benefitted from being on sale for peanuts over the past few years.

Really happy to see the continued success for TotK. It's very clear how much work Nintendo have put into this one, so it's good to see it pay off.

That's the power of the big N !!

@FragRed I know it's mind blowing

Zelda Tears of The Kingdom holdin down that number one spot like a champion, im just glad Elden Ring was dethroned "ALL hail to the king" (Yes, that's a Triple H reference)

@KryptoniteKrunch - as immature as i feel for writing this it defo feels like they chose a curling on off face for Ryu

TOTK is the only game I’ve bought day one recently, everything else drops in price after a month or two these days. And seeing the amount of older titles in the top 40, I’m not the only person who does this.

@Buizel Wasn't always like that. In the 90's Street Fighter 2 sold over 15 million copies while Link to the Past+Link's Awakening didn't even do half that. But the popularity of Street Fighter plummeted with bad choices.

Does Zelda hold the crown for another week or will Diablo IV take it? Will it be Final Fantasy XVI that dethrones Zelda?

Didnt SF6 just release like 2 days ago?

Haha, I love the image of Link vs Ryu. Perfection! * chef's kiss *

I'm sorry, but the O in the tag-line desperately needs a period after it, before the exclamation mark.

@Axecon Imagine if Everybody 1-2-Switch was the game to overtake TotK.

@LavaTwilight Yep, never been a fan of the transition from the more athletic build (e.g. SFII era) to the juiced-looking tank he's become.

@CammyUnofficial

It released last Friday. Just like TotK launched the Friday before it stormed to no.1 in the charts.

It's not an anomaly.

@Nintendo4Sonic

What a strange little comment.

As this article is about UK physical sales charts, a quick gander at that top 40 shows that yes in fact Switch can in fact "mess" with PS5. Series X is barely a factor.

@SBandy1 ahh got it thanks. I was more surprised to see it on any charts but didnt know how it all worked

For those saying this is not impressive as fighting games are "niche" a quick reminder that Mortal Kombat 11 sold 15 million units, Street Fighter V did 7 million (just on PS4 & PC as it never had a Switch release), Tekken 7 sold 10 million units. And that's just the big 3 fighters not including games like Dragon Ball FighterZ (10 million), or Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (31 million).

Yes, Street Fighter V did the "worst" between the big 3, but SF6 has had a major hype machine behind it compared to its predecessor... So, yes this is still very impressive.

@CammyUnofficial

No worries.

Sometimes games do launch on other days but 99% of the time it is a Friday launch and they will be counted in that week's sales charts.

Wait … a game that it’s trying to revolutionize its genre … versus a game that is recycling it’s map, assets, sounds, eeeevrything at all.

I’ve always had a sincere respect about street fighter … but there’s a sad bias in this site about Zelda. And I’ve been defending this IP for 30 years.

Please stop these titles like somehow this game is perfect, we all have spent all these hours and there’s no way TOTK is this ultimate game you all seem to show.

Very curios about Mario Kart 8 Deluxe still in the top 10 after so many years...

I imagine the bar is pretty darn low in June to enter the boxed sales chart at number 40. Still impressive and I'd love the Evercade to continue doing well, but it's more than likely not quite as spectacular as it sounds!

@YoshiF2

I have put more hours into Street Fighter V than I care to admit and I love the Street Fighter series but SF6 isn't revolutionary. Most of the complaints you aim at TotK can be pointed at SF6. Roster of mainly the same fighters with the same movesets they have had for the past 30 years. Backgrounds that whilst different follow the same motif they always do. An airfield, a rural area in Japan etc.

Changing one fighting mechanic for another (From V Trigger to the new thing I can't remember the name of) but keeping everything else pretty much the same. They are finding new exciting ways to rinse more money out of us though with extra characters and costumes etc so there's that I guess.

"I’ve been defending this IP for 30 years" Why?!

@Francema Or GTA5

@SBandy1 ignore them. Anyone who has played even an hour of TotK (or watch the opening hours via a let's play) can tell you his complaints aren't real. Even the parts of the map reused in TotK from BotW have been majorly overhauled. And yes TotK doesn't need to revolutionize Zelda (arguably it has with the amount of creative freedom it gives players via the ultra hand), as much like Majora's Mask or Wind Waker before it, now they're just refining what was already revolutionized by the entry before it (in those titles cases Ocarina of Time).

@Wexter I was about to reply to them saying the exact same thing and people seem to forget how huge Street Fighter 2 and Mortal Kombat really were in the 90's. With Street Fighter 2 alone estimated to have grossed over $10 billion across consoles and Arcade

I'm thoroughly enjoying Street Fighter 6, I've been out of the loop with fighting games for a while (except a bit of MK11) but have my Mayflash F500 Elite and it's a great way to play this new game. It's also got a wealth of content to be getting on with, from a Yakuza style story mode, a PS Home style hub, complete with classic arcade games and a robust Arcade mode.

Between this and TOTK and RE4 earlier, this has been one of the best years for me in some time gaming wise

@Wexter

Aye anyone still making that argument about TotK is just talking nonsense at this point as millions who have played the game themselves can verify.

Why is uk top relevant for whole world? Do majority of games are sold only in uk?

@Francema plenty of new Switch's are still being sold, so why not pick it up? It's also why games such as Mario 3D All Stars should never have been removed from sale

@clianvXAi they also report Japanese and US charts, so I'm not sure what your point is

The REAL question is, who would win in a fight between those two.

@ComfyAko sadly if she is going to get in, she is going to be dlc again! My girl doesn’t deserve this! Or they use Li Fen as a Chun Li counterpart.

Also! it’s awesome to see a street fighter game sell this well! And I played the beta, and it made me actually want to learn street fighter! I’m definitely picking it up on sale! ( not saying fighting games don’t sell well! I just think it so impressive and well deserved)

@Nikki_boagreis Why are you glad about that?

Street Fighter 6 is probably really good but I bet people will be wary of buying it cos of all the dlc they are probably waiting for it to be rereleased with all the content even tho it’s probably on the disc already just it’s hidden behind a paywall

@LavaTwilight you're right about that. What I mean is the major difference in hardware possibilities and the lot of major games, which are not released on Switch, because it's not possible.
Also XBox and PS are about core gaming with an amazing online system, which a Switch can't mess with.
And still some people act like the Switch is better than a PS5.
I'm not saying the Switch is a crap system and of course it has its own good games.

@YoshiF2 Look I love street fighter, but I think it’s a little unfair to go after the re used assets bit, re using assets isn’t bad as long as it’s done correctly, majoras mask showcased this perfectly and they had even less time to work on that game then this one, so one can only imagine the stuff they can do with the amount of time they had to work on this one.

In short, I think re using assets isn’t a bad thing, and it definitely isn’t here when it also just adds consistency to your world.

@Nintendo4Sonic

A console's worth is determined by its games library.

And on that metric I am stating outright that Switch is currently better than my PS5 and Series S.

This is pretty crazy in the UK chart. Just a few years ago Nintendo would have been considered a console "for kids".

@Pigeon
The difference with SF6 is that it basically contains RPG elements and a lot more hands-on training for newer players to be able to jump in. Capcom did try to open the game more this time, and it has worked to some extent, just not the biggest it could go.

The Lord of The Rings: Gollum's almighty plunge accurately portraying his ending in Return of the King lol.

I’m curious if that result is true for other regions as well, not just the uk

I believe there are way more interesting other games than zelda games.
The hype of zelda games just too overrated and too overwhelming in my opinion.
I can assure you the underrated / unpopular games are way more interesting to play.

@SBandy1 I think it's a bit unfair to compare the Switch's 6 year run with the PS5 and XSX/S... They are finally starting to hit their stride while the Switch is in its twilight years with probably one of if the best games library in Nintendo history. Granted so far year six has been a banger for the Switch with little room for slowing down with TotK, Metroid Prime Remaster, Fire Emblem Engage, Octopath Traveler 2, Xenoblade 3 Future Redeemed and we're still waiting on Disgaea 7, Mortal Kombat 1, Hollow Knight Silksong and Pikmin 4... It's been a pretty good year to be a Switch owner.

Though the PS5 is getting Final Fantasy XVI, Assassin's Creed Mirage, Spider-Man 2, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and they did just get Street Fighter 6. There is still a bit a ways left to go for the PS5 to not just feel like the system that plays PS4 games, but better... but I think 2023 is finally the year where it's library feels like its own thing.

EDIT: For those saying, but the PS5 had GOTYs last year like Elden Ring and God of War Ragnarok... yeah it did... but they also came out on PS4 so they did not give massive incentives to get a PS5 just for those games. Unless they wanted them to look nicer. Hence why for a lot of people, the PS5 has just felt like a PS4 PRO PRO, rather than a fresh new console their first few years on the market.

@Wexter I agree with this. The ps5 and Xbox had a slow start, but what new console doesn’t? They all need time to pick up speed, and get their games in, and ps5 is really starting to move!

@Snatcher Indeed! I think people who have a PS5 or an XSX/S will feel very satisfied by the end of the year. Good for them, and hey as I said Switch owners have a few bangers to end the year on before we even get a Summer Direct.

@Wexter I know I’m starting too! The games coming out recently are really peaking my interest!

I totally forgot about the summer direct, man gamers are eating good this year!

@Wexter

I agree it is unfair which is why I included "currently". It isn't until all three systems have finished their life cycles I can declare which console was the best. And even then it will just be in my view of course.

I was just highlighting how ridiculous Nintendo4Sonic's comment was.

@SBandy1 All good bro. I did a skim-read so, I missed that.

@SBandy1 if you think soo....

@Wexter

No probs we are on the same boat!

@Nintendo4Sonic

I do.

@Anti-Matter maybe 30 game collection volume 1 is on sale and much cheaper than volume 2?

Why is FIFA 23 high on the charts but NHL 23 is not even on the chart at all? There must be something wrong with the charts! NHL 23 is much better than FIFA 23 and more fun and with more fast action. Maybe people in UK do not like ice hockey as much as they SHOULD!

Street Fighter VI seems pretty fun, i tried the demo on Ps4. I might not buy it yet though. New games are kind of expensive.

@Simon97 Indeed. No idea why the English just do not like ice hockey considering the rest of Europe (especially Eastern and Nordic counties) obsession with it. Maybe they're afraid of slipping on the ice eh?

All in good jest English commenters,

Wait ... is that serious ? Fifa on the Switch accounted for about 1/3 of Fifa sales ?
It seems that there´s really some demand for a portable Fifa after all, eh ?

@chardir So wrong. Nintendo handhelds have always done great in the great in the UK across all ages. Even when the PS2 dominated and GameCube was a distant third place it was hard to find anyone who didn’t have a GBA. Nintendo have always had a great handheld presence here, they’ve just struggled for a long time with their home consoles (outside of the Wii but that was the same story here as well as everywhere else). Their home console hardware just hasn’t been what many people are looking for since the GameCube with lacking online, lack of third party support and a huge gulf in power (since Wii) compared to the competition- but that’s true of most of the world, not just UK.

And yes, I know it’s a hybrid but it’s a handheld first, hence why there’s an option to buy it without the dock component entirely.

I find it odd on how nobody's commentibg on the fact that not only do Switch exclusives make up about half of the entires in this list, many of them are seversl years old.

Just goes to show that Nintendo knows how to make games people will be hyped to buy many years down the road.

Not really a fan of the starting launch roster of SF6 so I’ll wait.

@Freek final fantasy is coming.

Once Zelda gets off the top, we'll see some real Tears of the Kingdom.

Almost bought SF but realized I would still be playing Zelda.

@Freek only if you're not including DQ XI S. That still is a better JRPG.

@Anti-Matter I still think DQ XI S is a better game than both BOTW and TOTK.

Wow a game that was available on 3 similar platforms except the Switch and it still can't outsell Zelda which is only on the Switch? This and the fact that Zelda was the more expensive game too.

Haha, Ryu looks constipated in the thumbnail.

@RubyCarbuncle You would had been wise to just wait a few years for Ultra Street Fighter 6: Hyper Turbo Edition which would had everything on it and cost less. The Ultimate Edition you bought still had missing contents.

Yeeee. They can ride Zelda and Pikmin until September. Easy.

Yeah, that lines up.
All I want is fishing DLC w dumb mythical fish and the ability to create lures out of monsters and insects..

@Nikki_boagreis and if you don't like that, we got two words for you!

SF6 is a fighting game; those don't generally outperform more accessible, widespread genres and franchises (yes, SF is the king-daddy of FG revenue, but Zelda is the god-emperor of action-adventure love, having practically invented the genre on consoles).

The bigger question is: has Diablo 4 taken the revenue reigns, despite not even fully officially out yet? (Disguised Early Access via premium pre-orders is still early access).

@Serpenterror It was in the Capcom leak that they had 3 different versions of this game releasing (as usual)

@Freek ohhhh BOI! I found comment of the year!

Nintendo is King/Queen like it or not! The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom is a Masterpiece!

@siavm oh geez look everyone, overrated final fantasy game is coming. Big deal.

@Anti-Matter For some reason, seeing that cover art, took me back to PC gaming, mid 90’s. When there were A LOT of game collections being sold. Also, bundled with new computers. 😂 🤷🏿‍♂️

@YoshiF2 Tears of the Kingdom Is probably the best game Iv ever played and I play like 50games from start to finish each year lol

@Joe-b
Yup.
I haven't played DQ XI S yet but I can tell that game looks way much better than zelda games.
I have a plan to get DQ XI S on PS4 version since I want at least 60 FPS performance.

@Anti-Matter download the demo in the eshop. There's a generous 10hours easy of game play. Plus when you buy the game, you can roll your save into the game. I played it 3 years ago. I played about 145 hours to finish it. I kept thinking how great the game was and so I started a new game last week! There's so much to do and see.

@Jark SF hasn’t been the king of sales for fighters for quite awhile. SFV got outsold by several fighters that came out in recent years even if I don’t count Smash Ultitmate for those select few that will default to “not a fighter”.

@RubyCarbuncle That's what they said every gen. You know it's gonna happen, it'll be released both as DLC and another edition. They said Street Fighter V won't have updated versions and look what happen, Street Fighter V: Arcade and Champion Edition happens.

It’s really cool to see Nintendo pretty much dominating with the movie, sales from TotK….Sony has had a few weeks here and there, but it is still Big N carrying most of the weight In system sales and software.

Not really surprising considering while SF6 is popular its still in a niche genre (Although 6 has definitely attracted a lot of new players with the modern control scheme). Congratulations to Zelda for the continued success but I've actually kind of fell off TOTK.

I'm at the third main dungeon and just ran out of steam on it. I still plan to finish it someday but Street Fighter 6 came in and absolutely crushed my expectations which were already very high. Great year for games in general! At the moment SF6 is my GOTY. The game is simply sublime from top to bottom!

To be fair I'm not really surprised. Even though the fighting game genre is niche, think about it: when you pit a highly anticipated fighting game sequel to a highly anticipated open-world sequel to one of the best open-world video games of all time that's being released on the most popular console of all time, it's kind of no contest. That being said, as a long-time Street Fighter fan congrats to SF6 for making this far! Hope to get the game someday! The fighting game genre may be niche, but it's definitely growing!

thats it, im gettin an evercade.

@SmashFan347 @Korgon

im old enough to remember when 1v1 fighters ruled, and Street Fighter was KING! 🙂

@Korgon

this is the first ive heard of a "modern control scheme," 😬

what did you prefer about it to older street fighters? whats different?

@SmashFan347 Where is the idea that fighting games are niche from? Mortal Kombat 11 sold 15 million units that is not niche. And that is before we discuss titles like Dragonball FighterZ at 10 million units, and Street Fighter IV sold 9 million units, and Street Fighter V sold 7 million units. Tekken 7 sold 10 million units, Dead or Alive 6 has sold over 2 million copies and was considered a commercial flop that is more than the first two Xenoblade games sold.

For comparison Splatoon 2 sold 13.3 million units, Mortal Kombat 11 out sold that. Street Fighter V's sales numbers are comparable to Monster Hunter Rise on Switch. These are not niche little titles. When compared to games like Devil May Cry V which has sold 6 million units, Shadow of the Tomb Raider has sold roughly 9 million units, Witcher 3 (on PS4) sold 13 million units. Like I mean these are not Animal Crossing number or Call of Duty numbers, but those are the anomalies. And that is before we talk about Smash sales numbers which is a fighting game...

Where is this idea that fighting games is a niche genre coming from?

@-wc-
It basically focuses on making special moves much easier to perform. For example instead of the usual input for a hadouken from past games you just press one button. Plus instead of having 3 separate punch and 3 separate kick buttons, instead you only have just light strong and heavy attack buttons.

The trade off is you don't have access to all your characters moves like the classic control scheme allows.

Personally I still prefer the classic setup but I can see how more casual players might lean towards the modern.

@Arawn93 Same here, which characters were you expecting? In my case it was Vega, Guy, R. Mika and El Fuerte (although it seems that everyone hated him haha).

@Korgon

thanks for filling me in! 😊

"Personally I still prefer the classic setup but I can see how more casual players might lean towards the modern."

i feel the exact same way. if its not 3 punches, three kicks + joystick manoevers, its not street fighter.

i love smash, but SF is not smash 👍

@Wexter

"Where is this idea that fighting games is a niche genre coming from?"

I have been thinking the same thing!

i think if a game takes skill to play, its considered "niche." 🙄 on the other hand, street fighter has arguably the most iconic characters AND music of any game ever made. 😌

p.s. animal crossing is simply the best selling game of an EXTREMELY niche genre. 😂👍

@YoshiF2 Wait, wait, wait - hold on a minute - !!! You mean to tell that that a website that calls itself "Nintendo Life" has some degree of open bias towards Nintendo, its consoles, and its games? No way - I refuse to believe it.

Also, Tears of the Kingdom deserves the praise that it gets. Having sunk 100 hours into it so far, it's been worth every penny. It is everything I wanted BOTW to be, multiple by 9,000. Anyone who actually sinks time into this game in a meaningful way knows that some reused assets are not a problem, especially when nearly every place on the original Hyrule map has been in some way changed - sometimes very significantly.

When you throw in the absolutely massive Depths, a ridiculous number of caves, lots of sky islands, lots of new music, 120 new shrines, new bosses, temples, tons of quests with rewards (that are actually worth doing because of a better rewards system), and brand new mechanics that greatly change the way the game is played - and it just baffles me why anyone is still peddling the "TOTK is $70 "DLC" nonsense. It feels like an entirely new game, just set in the same world - and I personally see nothing wrong with that.

But, of course, your mileage may vary. To each their own, I suppose!

In short -

BOTW is a revolutionary title. It redefined Zelda as a series, and broke the open world adventure genre wide open in ways that will be felt across the industry for years to come.

By contrast, TOTK is an evolutionary title - and probably the best, most purest example of one that I can think of. It takes what BOTW revolutionized and perfects it in just about every way.

In the past, we've seen this pattern before, and it's always been to good effect. Zelda 1 was a revolutionary game, while A Link to the Past evolves it. Ocarina of Time was revolutionary, while MM, WW, TP, and SS are all evolutionary titles. There's nothing wrong with being evolutionary - and TOTK is only the latest example of why not every game needs to (nor even should) represent a brand new, paradigm shift for a franchise. Sometimes solid and inspired innovations are all that's required in order to take a series to the next level.

@TioRogerio Yeah FIFA is kind of cool to play in a portable way. Also i think there are not many options for sports games in Switch. Except for Nintendo sports games like Mario Strikers And NBA 2K.

@Wexter Maybe because fighting games are....kind of hard! I mean i still miss the dragon punch even now after all the practice.

@Simon97 That still does not make them niche though. I mean Dark Souls is hard, but Soulsborne games are super popular. I just think it is because of how the community presents itself more than anything. As far as sales are concerned Fighters tend to do pretty well and the top hitters can go pound-for-pound of most other genre heavies.

@SBandy1

I have a PS5 and I disagree. Both Switch and PS5 are fantastic consoles and have a lot of killer games. I enjoyed Stray and The Quarry just as much as I'm enjoying Zelda and Kirby right now. Either one is a winner. I haven't played the new xbox.

@daveMcFlave

Seems to me the one you should be disagreeing with is Nintendo4Sonic. They were the one talking in absolutes saying both Series X and PS5 were definitely better than Switch.

My response was to them saying I find the Switch currently to be the better console as it has the better games library at the moment.

If you find them both equal that's fine, I just have more games to play on Switch than PS5 at the minute. Not saying that won't change.

@SBandy1

I didn't mean any disrespect. I just said that I disagreed. I've played both consoles extensively, and I've enjoyed both consoles in equal measure. I just think that all current platforms have a lot to offer, and that it's mostly dependent on personal taste. And if they said that, I disagree with them too. I think it boils down to taste, because all of them have excellent games.

@daveMcFlave

I agree with everything you say pretty much.

I am just currently leaning towards the Switch as I consider it to have the better library of games compared to my PS5 and Series S. As I said that may change when their current runs are over. PS5 and Series S are only 2 and a half years in of course but nothing on either system has properly wow'ed me as the likes of Mario Odyssey, BotW or TotK on Switch have so far.

@SBandy1

Well, I'll say this much. TOTK won me back over on switch. I haven't touched another game since it came out.