NHL 12 breaks franchise records; Facebook game incoming

With pre-season hockey officially kicking off last night, all is right in the world again. According to EA Sports, its NHL series had "its biggest launch week in franchise history."

NHL 12 unit sales were up 19 percent across Europe and North America during its first week of release, netting "more than $27 million" at retail worldwide. The hockey sim launched for the Xbox and PS3 on September 9 in Europe and on September 13 in North America.

EA revealed that NHL 12 "sold through" more than 451,000 copies at retail worldwide thus far. Sold through references the company's sale of inventory, however, this does not directly translate to sales to consumers. "More than 6.9 million online connected game sessions" were recorded between September 13 and September 19, a record for the franchise, EA notes.

EA has also announced that the NHL franchise will be expanding to the social game scene with NHL Superstars, a free-to-play Facebook title. "NHL Superstars will bring an all-new NHL experience to millions of hockey fans by enabling players to build and manage their ultimate team of professional hockey players. With dynamic and accessible gameplay, fans can compete head-to-head in games against their Facebook friends from around the world."

NHL Superstars is set to launch in "early October."