While American gamers have to sit on their hands (see what I did there?) and wait for FIFA 10 until the 20th of this month, Europeans have been kicking it around for a week now. In fact, quite a few Europeans have been playing it. To put it more directly, a record number of people bought FIFA 10 in its first week of availability. A press release sent out this morning from EA claims sales of 1.7 million games, making it not only the fastest selling sports game in European history, but also EA's single biggest European game launch. The only game to have sold more copies in Europe in its first week was Grand Theft Auto IV.

"We were confident that FIFA 10 would be a hit, and this week fans across Europe have shown just how much they love this game," said Peter Moore, President of EA Sports. "We are incredibly proud of FIFA 10 and this kick-off for great, authentic football competition."

This marks a ray of sunshine for an EA Sports division that has seen disappointing sales on this year's iteration its newly revamped Madden franchise. And while it remains to be seen if the American market's sales will approach those of Europe (spoiler alert: they won't), EA can at least keep their head held high that a place that loves soccer like a religion is willing to worship at home.