'Legend of Zelda': Unopened 1987 Nintendo game sold for $870,000 at Heritage Auctions

“Legend of Zelda” is a popular game that was first developed and released by Nintendo in 1986. It is a fantasy action-adventure video game franchise that was created by Takashi Tezuka and Shigeru Miyamoto, who are famous Japanese game designers.

The most expensive video game

CNN News reported that a 34-year-old unopened copy of the “Legend of Zelda” was sold via auction, and it fetched a stunning $870,000 at Heritage Auctions. The still-sealed rare version of the Nintendo game is said to be the most expensive video game to ever be sold in history.

According to Heritage Auctions, the auction house that offered the sale, the copy of the game was not opened since it was purchased in 1987, and it was one of the units that were made on limited production for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). On Friday, July 9, it was finally sold and made history as the most expensive game.

The auction house said that the “Legend of Zelda” game copy is "the apotheosis of rarity, cultural significance, and collection centerpieces. A proverbial trifecta of collector perfection that only one will receive the honor of calling their own."

The video games specialist at Heritage Auction, Valerie McLeckie, further said in a statement, "I had a lot of confidence in this game, and, yet, I still feel like the reality of today's bidding exceeded my vision of how it would play out. Making history is never an easy thing."

The professional video game grading company, WataGames, assessed the more than three decades old “Legend of Zelda” and graded it with 9.0/A out of the scale where the highest is 10.

Breaking “Super Mario Bros.” record

The sealed “Legend of Zelda” was sold for $870,000, and it already includes the 20% buyer's fee. As posted in a tweet by the Heritage Auction House, the sale broke the record of another unopened copy of a Nintendo game, “Super Mario Bros.,” as the most expensive video game.

WataGames gave it a 9.6/A+ grade, and it was sold for $660,000 in April. The game was found by its owner in a desk drawer, and realized he completely forgot about it after its purchase in 1986.