John Riccitiello, CEO of Electronic Arts (EA), announced that Mass Effect 3 sold a phenomenal 890,000 copies in the first 24 hours upon launch in North America alone. Not only that, EA has also shipped over 3.5 million copies of Mass Effect 3 to retailers on a global scale within the first week of availability. Allegedly this makes BioWare’s RPG “the first pop culture event and the biggest entertainment launch of 2012″. Pretty big stuff.

Riccitiello had already stated that they anticipated on it doing well, so they’re happy during a Media and Telecommunications conference. He also declared that a multitude of gamers were also purchasing the day-one DLC. On top of that, 40% of gamers who picked up a copy of Mass Effect 3 also bought the DLC, From Ashes, ”The tie ratio at the register is the highest in their history”.

EA were also enthusiastic to announce that Mass Effect 3 had earned over 30 perfect review scores. Metacritic also revealed the current average rating for the Xbox 360 is a 95, which is incredibly high. Judging by the scores and recent reviews Mass Effect 3 will most likely be one of the best games of the year, so if you’ve been on the fence about buying it, perhaps a reconsideration is in order.

Dr. Ray Muzyka, BioWare’s co-founder said: “We have been truly humbled by the amazing response from fans and critics for Mass Effect 3. The game is a gripping, engaging experience where the decisions and choices you make will truly stay with you for the months and years ahead. We are all incredibly proud of Casey Hudson and the teams in Edmonton and Montreal for delivering the best game BioWare has ever made.”

Another confirmation made from BioWare was that Star Wars: The Old Republic currently has 1.7 million subscribers. Riccitiello describes it as ”the most successful MMO through this period in the history of the industry”. He also promises to deliver new content every quarter as well as upgrades and tutorials.

Mass Effect 3 sure has taken to the public by storm, and is positively a very successful RPG. It hit the shelves on 6th March, 2012 for the United States, and the 9th March, 2012 (today as of writing this) for Europe and Australia.