Mass Effect 2 Becomes Best-Selling January Release Ever

The NPD's January sales data was released today, revealing that BioWare's critically acclaimed Mass Effect 2 sold through more than 572,000 copies in the U.S. during the month. EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich pointed out that this makes Mass Effect 2 the best selling January release ever. That's all the more impressive when you consider that EA shipped the blockbuster RPG on January 26, giving the game just a few days to accumulate those sales.

"Previously the best selling January release was NFL Street for the PS2 in 2004, selling a little over 325,000 units in its first month.  Typically, January sales are reserved for the overflow from the Holidays and whilst the industry has come to the conclusion long ago that games can succeed in the off-season, few publishers have dared to release a big AAA title in the January month since 2005 (Resident Evil 4 for the GameCube, January 2005). Clearly, the success of three new releases, Mass Effect 2, Army of Two, and Darksiders is unequivocal proof that publishers should not avoid a January release date for their core targeted AAA titles," Divnich said.

Publisher Electronic Arts previously announced that 2 million copies of Mass Effect 2 were shipped in its first week.