UK CHARTS: Gears of War 3 shoots to the top

Gears of War 3 is the new UKIE Gfk Chart-Track All Formats No.1 on its first week of release.

It has also become the biggest launch of 2011 to date, as well as the seventh largest Xbox 360 launch ever and the 12th largest single platform title launch. It was close to matching the combined sales from the launch weeks of both Gears 1 and 2.

Crossing the line just behind it is Codemasters’ F1 2011, which debuts at No.2. Note that Gears of War was released on Tuesday, meaning it had a three-day head start over Codies’ racer.

Deep Silver’s Dead Island falls to third place after a 54 per cent week-on-week drop in sales followed by Zumba Fitness in 4th, which actually increases week-on-week sales by seven per cent.

Here’s the UK Top 20 in full:

1. Gears of War 3 (Microsoft)
2. F1 2011 (Codemasters)
3. Dead Island (Deep Silver)
4. Zumba Fitness (505 Games)
5. Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Square Enix)
6. Driver: San Francisco (Ubisoft)
7. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine (THQ)
8. Resistance 3 (Sony)
9. LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean (Disney)
10. Rugby World Cup 2011 (505 Games)
11. Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision)
12. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft)
13. Cars 2 (Disney)
14. The Sims 3 (EA)
15. Red Faction: Armageddon (THQ)
16. Just Dance 2 (Ubisoft)
17. LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 (Warner)
18. Michael Jackson: The Experience (Ubisoft)
19. LA Noire (Rockstar)
20. Gran Turismo 5 (Sony)