THE BUZZ: Online sales-tracking website VGChartz is proclaiming that in its first week of release, Gears of War 3 has sold over 3 million copies. If true, this would not only be a 50% increase from the sales of Gears of War 2, but would mean that Gears 3 outsold the first-week sales of both previous Gears of War titles combined.

This would also put Gears of War 3 as the biggest launch of 2011—above previous top seller Pokemon Black & White—and would chart it as the 6th biggest Xbox 360 launch of all time worldwide (behind Grand Theft Auto IV).

EGM’s TAKE: VGChartz isn’t always known as the most reliable sales-tracking outfit out there, but it wouldn’t be surprising if their numbers on this one turn out be true. Back in May, Gears of War 3 had already hit 1+ million pre-orders, and there are no doubt more gamers out there who purchase games without pre-ordering versus those who do.

Source: VGChartz