EA Sports' football sim sales figures up 8 percent year-over-year; new iteration off to best start in HD era; 24 million matches played online in first seven days.

Madden NFL 13 continues to break sales records. EA Sports announced today that its professional football simulator sold 1.65 million units across the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 during its first seven days (August 28-September 3) on the market. Sales figures for the Wii and PlayStation Vita versions were not disclosed.

Madden NFL 13 is off to a hot start.

According to EA internal estimates, Madden NFL 13's first-week sales are up 8 percent year-over-year, representing the franchise's best start on current-generation platforms. Last week, EA trumpeted the game's day-one sales of 900,000, calling it the biggest launch day for Madden NFL this console generation.

Not only were gamers eager to purchase Madden NFL 13, but they also participated in a record number of games. EA said in the first week following the game's launch, the total number of online games played surged 31 percent year-over-year to more than 24 million matches.

EA said gamers were especially interested in playing Madden NFL 13 on Labor Day, with an average of 3,000 games started every minute during this week's United States holiday. Additionally, EA said daily average user rates for Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of Madden NFL 13 increased 14 percent on the year, "shattering" previous records.

Madden may maintain its momentum for months. In a statement, GameStop senior vice president of merchandising Bob McKenzie said he expects Madden NFL 13's "consumer momentum" to continue into the fall and holiday season.

GameSpot's review of Madden NFL 13 found it to be a competent yearly update, with old issues returning and little significant innovation over last year's iteration.

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