Many of us are extremely excited to eventually be getting our hands on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake but Brazilian fans have taken it to a new…
Many of us are extremely excited to eventually be getting our hands on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake but Brazilian fans have taken it to a new level quickly snapping up the physical edition of the game leading to a complete sell out. IGN recently spoke with Ricardo Vieira, commercial director of Gamer Hut, which is one of the main physical media stores in Brazil, to talk about the reaction.
What results did you gather from the first batch of pre-orders for the Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake? Did the results meet your expectations?
Ricardo Vieira: The result exceeded even our most optimistic expectations. Gamer Hut had been preparing for almost four months, ever since we learned about the game, and had already placed a large order. Ocarina of Time was our big bet. Internally, we joked that if we had to choose between GTA and Ocarina, we would choose Ocarina. We have a very strong affinity with the Nintendo audience, and the team is also made up of fans.
The vast majority were people buying a single copy. We already had confidence in the game, but no one on the team, even with experience in major releases, imagined that the batch would sell out so quickly. For us, this result deserves the attention of the entire market. It shows that we still need to better understand the size of the demand for physical media. My perception is that the events of this year have also made more people look at their collections and the possibility of not having certain physical games in the future. They want to ensure that major releases are part of their collection, and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is proof of that.
Do you believe the rapid sell-out of pre-orders was due to low game availability, or was demand much higher than expected?
Vieira: When we made our purchase forecast, months in advance, we didn’t yet know about the foil cover. For a pre-order under the conditions we knew at that time, we felt we were well prepared. As soon as Nintendo Direct presented this special packaging in limited quantities, I contacted them and asked to double our order, which was already large. But production could no longer accommodate an additional order.
There is a broader issue of supply. In our experience, part of the Brazilian market operates with what we call “zero inventory”: concentrating purchases on launch, without necessarily maintaining a catalog stock or continuous replenishment. This causes some games to arrive, sell out, and then remain unavailable for a long time.
Gamer Hut strives to work in the opposite direction, maintaining options for the player and seeking import alternatives when necessary. However, we are not always able to repurchase products in the quantity or within the timeframe we need.
When a product is scarce, it becomes more difficult to measure real demand. If someone wants to buy something and can’t find it, that intention doesn’t show up in the sales figures. Therefore, I believe that Ocarina of Time highlights an opportunity to bring industry, distribution, retail, and the community even closer together to better understand this audience and plan supply.
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