Bethesda Softworks’ critically acclaimed
Fallout 3 has seen 4.7 million units shipped worldwide in its first week, representing potential revenues of more than $300 million.
Launched in North America on October 28th -- with releases in the UK, mainland Europe, and Australia following shortly afterward --
Fallout 3 is available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. The title is also slated for release in Japan on December 4th.
This success came despite reports that the game
had been pirated three weeks before its official launch.
Fallout 3 has already topped the
combined UK sales chart and is expected to feature prominently in monthly NPD sales charts for the U.S.
The post-apocalyptic action role-playing game saw midnight store openings at over 2,000 retailers in North America alongside its launch. In the UK, the game outsold all previous entries in the franchise combined in its first two days on sales.
Previously a primarily PC-only franchise, the original titles in the series were developed by the now defunct Black Isle Studios, and published by Interplay.
Bethesda
acquired the rights to the franchise in 2007, but confusion still remains over whether Interplay will continue with its proposed MMO title set in the same fictional universe.
As required under the terms of the contract (if not amended since then), Interplay is required to have started full development on
Fallout Online with $30 million in funding by April 2009, or the firm will forfeit the rights to Bethesda.
