Battlefield 1943 enlists 1 million on Xbox Live

EA has had no problems raising an army for Battlefield 1943. One week after the downloadable multiplayer-only shooter launched on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in July 2009, EA trumpeted the game's 600,000-unit opening sales. Despite initial server instability, that figure had doubled across the two platforms by November.

Today, EA said that the Xbox Live edition of Battlefield 1943 has sold 1 million units on its own. The publisher notes that the WWII-themed shooter has become the fastest to reach such a milestone on Xbox Live Arcade. EA did not provide sales figures for the PSN edition of the game and had not responded to requests for additional information as of press time.

The DICE-developed Battlefield 1943 received a warm critical reception upon its launch for downloadable platforms last year. Created using the same engine as DICE's Battlefield: Bad Company 2, the competitive online shooter includes four 24-player maps inspired by arenas that first appeared in Battlefield 1942. The shooter costs $15 (1,200 Microsoft points) on consoles, and a PC edition of the game is expected to arrive "soon."

Battlefield 1943's success has proven to be important for EA. Commenting on an analyst and investor conference last week, Wedbush's Michael Pachter said that EA plans to introduce what equated to "a very long game demo, along the lines of 2009's Battlefield 1943" for $10 to $15 through Xbox Live. These premium samplers would be available shortly before the full game is released.

Check out GameSpot's video review below for more on Battlefield 1943.