Medal of Honor shines

As was predicted by EA earlier in the month, the latest instalment to the Medal of Honor franchise has smashed all previous week one sales records for the franchise.

This morning the game claimed top spot in the UKIE GfK Chart-Track All Formats Top 40.

The new Medal of Honor is the 16th release in the series, with former titles such as Allied Assault, Frontline and Rising Sun proving stiff competition for the fresh instalment.

GfK Chart-Track has also revealed that 52 per cent of the game’s sales were for Xbox 360, with PS3 claiming 43 per cent and PC five per cent. The new game claims the title of the fourth biggest launch week for an Xbox 360 title in 2010. On PS3 it’s the fifth largest of the year.

The success of the game, and the ongoing market performance of this week’s number two title FIFA 11, propelled EA’s weekly UK market share to 20.5 per cent, according to numbers from GfK Chart-Track.

We’re thrilled to have taken the top slot with Medal of Honor and would like to thank our retail partners for helping us successfully reintroduce one of gaming’s powerhouse brands,” EA’s UK marketing director Stuart Lang told MCV.

This is the strongest launch in the history of the franchise and one of the biggest releases of the year. We’ve signalled our intent to be number one in the shooter category and we’ve made big strides towards that goal in 2010. Battlefield Bad Company 2 is the best selling shooter in the UK this calendar year and now, with the successful launch of Medal of Honor, we’re well placed to take major market share.

We’ll be continuing to push both through peak as essential experiences for all shooter fans.”