Mass Effect 3 sells nearly 900k units in 24 hours in U.S.

Mass Effect 3 sold nearly 900,000 copies in North America in its first 24 hours on sale, EA has revealed at today's Wedbush Technology, Media and Telecommunications Conference.

"We anticipated it doing well, so we're happy," said EA's chief executive John Riccitiello.

890,000 copies were sold, to be exact.  These numbers are strictly from North American sales.  Mass Effect 3 launched on Tuesday in the United States and launches today in Europe.

Riccitiello also mentioned the success of the Mass Effect 3 launch day DLC, From Ashes. Retail giant GameStop saw 40% of day one customers also purchase the download code for From Ashes.

"The tie ratio at the register is the highest in their history," Riccitiello said.

Mass Effect 3 is the latest installment and epic conclusion to Commander Shepard's Mass Effect trilogy.  Despite the game's successful sales numbers, the game has been met with sharp criticism from fans who have blasted the game on Metacritic.  Although review critics have scored the game a 95/100, the user score is a mediocre 5/10, which is actually up from a few days ago.

Mass Effect 3 also marks the first time multiplayer makes its way into the series.  The new Galaxy at War multiplayer focuses strictly on co-op wave-based gameplay that also has an effect on the singleplayer campaign.  This added mode has been met with mixed criticism from fans who have said it has tarnished the game.  It has also caused some confusion, leading some to believe that the multiplayer is necessary to achieve the Mass Effect 3 "perfect ending".  BioWare has since clarified that multiplayer isn't required and you don't actually need to play it.

[Venturebeat]