Battlefield 3 becomes fastest-selling game in EA history

by Steve Ragan - Nov 1 2011, 14:00

With internal estimates reaching 5 million units sold in the first week, Battlefield 3 has become the fastest-selling game in company history. EA says that word of mouth and positive reviews are the two factors driving the record setting event.

“From Tokyo to Los Angeles, Sydney to London, millions of fans have been playing all weekend long -- we are overwhelmed by the global response,” said Patrick Soderlund, Executive Vice President of the EA Games.

“It is extremely gratifying to deliver an entertainment experience that delights our fans, and to have the opportunity to introduce new people to the franchise. Already, we are seeing unprecedented play times and online activity which is very rewarding.”

Launching in 2002, Battlefield has had some ups and downs over the years, but 17 games and expansion packs later, it remains popular with many gamers - if for no other reason that it being a solid alternative to Call of Duty.

Most of the reviews this time around are solid, averaging above 85 on console and above 90 on PC. With that said, and while the sales record is nothing to scoff at, the folks over at DICE know there are issues.

“Despite the fact that millions of people are online playing Battlefield 3, some of you are experiencing issues. The DICE team, as well as the many EA groups that support this historic launch, have all been working around the clock. We’ve deployed a number of server-side updates in our first week that have solved a number of the primary connectivity challenges, and have accelerated our rollout of the number of Hardcore servers,” DICE said on their game blog.

Currently, DICE is working on fixes for Quick Match functionality on Xbox 360, which hasn’t been working properly; in addition, the errors with Quick Match are also causing problems with players not being able to join squads and remaining with them.

Authentication and other issues with the Origin platform are being addressed, and DICE says they are working to limit the amount of downtime on their servers. Finally, they are asking that cheaters be reported, and said they are pushing anti-cheat fixes as fast as they can while they update Punkbuster.

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