FIFA 11 biggest sports game launch ever

FIFA 11 has enjoyed the biggest sports game launch ever, EA has said.

It sold over 2.6 million copies globally and generated over $150 million in less than a week, according to internal estimates.

FIFA 11 is now the fastest selling sports game ever, and sparked the most online game usage in EA Sports history, said the delighted publisher.

Meanwhile, EA announced it'll launch FIFA 11 Ultimate Team for free on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in November. Ultimate Team challenges gamers to build a squad of the world's best footballers (Terry, Lampard, Drogba et al) by earning, buying, selling and trading players.

EA Sports president and Liverpool (LOL!1!) fan had this to say: "We're thrilled at how fans embraced FIFA 11 last weekend, and we are excited to be able to offer one of our most popular game modes - FIFA 11 Ultimate Team - for free this November.

"This is a landmark achievement for EA Sports - we've shattered sales records at retail, critics are praising FIFA 11 as being one of the most authentic and innovative titles ever, and fans are connecting and competing with other gamers around the world and have logged a record number of online connected game sessions."

EA released a number of impressive statistics to hammer home FIFA 11's sales success.

The first two days after FIFA 11 launched in Europe was the busiest two-day period for online gaming in EA Sports history. Gamers registered more than 18.6 million online connected EA Sports game sessions overall, including more than 11.3 million of FIFA 11, in that two-day period.

In the UK FIFA 11 sold a whopping 821,000 copies in its opening weekend on sale, making £28.93 million.

Tom gave FIFA 11 8/10 in last week's review. A video of me beating him is below.