Gears of War Hits 2mil In Worldwide Sales

Officials from Microsoft have announced that the company's Epic Games developed Gears of War has sold more than one million units in the U.S. since its release on November 7, and more than two million worldwide, making the action shooter the fastest selling Xbox exclusive title in history. Microsoft also noted that the Xbox 360 title, which has garnered nearly universal acclaim from the media and carries an impressive 94.2% rating on review aggregate website Gamerankings, continues to be the most played game over Xbox Live, with more than one million unique players taking part in ten million online games so far. In addition, the company also revealed that Gear of War players have also thus far unlocked an astounding seven million achievements in just six weeks, and that Gold paid memberships to the Xbox Live service have increased by more than 50 percent since the game's launch. "Gears of War clearly has won the battle for the title of the must-have game of the year," commented Jeff Bell, corporate vice president of global marketing for the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. "Its phenomenal success is one of many reasons why Xbox 360 is the ultimate place to get together with friends to play this holiday." Epic Games' president Michael Capps added: “We've always held high hopes for Gears of War, but we never expected such an overwhelmingly positive response from critics and gamers all over the world. I can't describe how stoked our team is right now. Our fans can absolutely count on Epic to keep delivering new gameplay through Xbox Live.”