Gears of War becomes fastest-selling next-gen game

Microsoft has announced that more than 2 million copies of Xbox 360 title Gears of War have now been sold around the globe, making it the fastest-selling next-gen console game so far.

It's also the most played game on Xbox Live, with more than 1 million GOW players taking part in 10 million online gaming sessions.

According to Microsoft, GOW has also boosted sign-ups for the service - the number of new paid registrations per day has risen by more than 50 per cent since the game launched.

"We've always held high hopes for Gears of War, but we never expected such an overwhelmingly positive response from critics and gamers all over the world," said Michael Capps, president of GOW developer Epic Games.

"I can't describe how stoked our team is right now. Our fans can absolutely count on Epic to keep delivering new gameplay through Xbox Live."

As reported by our sister site, Eurogamer.net, Epic has pledged to deliver free downloadable content for the game in the future.