The latest installment of military video game "Battlefield" hit the market with sales rivaling that of blockbuster rival "Call of Duty," publisher Electronic Arts (EA) announced on Thursday.
More than 7 million copies of "Battlefield 6" were snapped up in what EA touted as one of the biggest gaming and entertainment launches of this year, said AFP.
That is on par with sales reported for the October 2024 debut of the most recent "Call of Duty" game, a new installment of which is set for release next month.
"We never take moments like this for granted, so I want to express our sincere gratitude to our global Battlefield Studios and passionate community that has helped get us to this point," EA Executive Vice President Vince Zampella said in a release.
In the days after its October 10 launch, "Battlefield 6" sales set a new record for the franchise, whose beginnings stretch back to 2002, according to EA.
"Together with our players we've had a singular goal: to craft the best Battlefield ever," said general manager of the game Byron Beede.
"And this is just the beginning - our first season of new content is just 12 days away."
While EA says the mass-combat game has won over 100 million players in the past two decades, "Battlefield" lost ground to "Call of Duty" over the years.
The story in the new installment follows a near-future conflict in 2027 that sees the United States and allies fighting a tooled-up private army dubbed Pax Armata.
The game offers hyper-realistic graphics to players on PC, Xbox Series X or S, and PlayStation 5, as well as environments that allow for tactics like demolishing structures with rocket launchers.
Where "Call of Duty" focuses on tighter, smaller skirmishes, Battlefield has always striven to create a more epic canvas.
While dubbed "Battlefield 6", the new EA game is in fact the 10th in the series, which also includes several spin-off titles.
