Gears of War 3 Sells 3 Million Copies in First Week

Epic Games and Microsoft have tallied the first sales figures for Gears of War 3, the newest third person, cover-based shooter, and confirmed that 3 million copies have been sold in the first week of availability.

Gears of War 3 was released earlier this month, on September 20, exclusively for Microsoft's Xbox 360 console, and was eagerly awaited by a huge number of gamers who've already played through the first two titles more than once.

Even if most people, both regular gamers as well as professional reviewers or industry analysts, expected impressive sales for Gears of War 3, the first actual figures are nothing short of staggering.

According to Epic Games, the developer, and Microsoft, the publisher, Gears of War 3 sold over 3 million units in its first week on store shelves. This helped the series go past the $1 billion (734 million Euro) sales milestone.

Besides the impressive sales figures, especially if you factor in that it only appeared for the Xbox 360 console, Microsoft also highlighted that the game got over 50 perfect review scores, becoming the highest-rated exclusive of the year.

"Gears of War was the first killer app for Xbox 360, and the series has continued to contribute directly to the overall success of the platform ever since," said Microsoft corporate vice president Phil Spencer. "Gears of War 3 kicked off the biggest Christmas period in Xbox history, setting the standard for the kind of amazing, action-packed experiences gamers should expect on Xbox 360 this year."

Epic Games already confirmed that Gears of War 3 will receive downloadable content, not just for the multiplayer mode, like new maps or gameplay modes, but also for some single-player add-ons, which won't feature the main characters from the video games.

With such impressive sales and growing popularity, expect Epic Games to continue working on the franchise in the future, despite finishing the trilogy that focused on Marcus Fenix and his Delta Squad buddies.