Xbox Gaming in South Africa

The biggest shootout of the year has begun, and it looks like EA is cashing in on the head start that Battlefield 3 has over Activision's upcoming Modern Warfare 3, with the publisher revealing that 10 million units have been shipped since launch.

EA CEO John Riccitiello made the announcement during an investor call, and was quick to lay the praise on developer EA DICE as well as the marketing blitzkrieg which preceded the launch.

"... The results have been tremendous, thanks to the superb quality of the title produced by our DICE Studio in Stockholm, and the world-class marketing executed by our teams globally," said Riccitiello, according to a CVG report. "Our marketing made adept use of YouTube where 13 million people have viewed our trailers and on Facebook where we have 2.1 million fans. Battlefield 3 PR was everywhere, and on launch date, in North America alone, more than 8,400 stores opened early to sell the game. We couldn't be happier with the launch of Battlefield 3."

As we know, "copies shipped" isn't the same thing as "units sold", but it's a significant number all the same. According to Riccitiello, retailers are already placing reorders for more stock, which at least tells us that these 10 million copies aren't just holed up on the back of a freight ship somewhere.