The newest edition of the annual EA Sports franchise had the hottest videogame debut overall this year and was a top-seller in at least 40 countries, according to the Northern California-based company.

The realistic soccer videogame proved especially popular in Britain, where more than 1.23 million copies were bought in the 48 hours after its release on September 25, EA reported.

"FIFA Soccer 13 is a critical and commercial success unprecedented in sports entertainment," said EA Sports executive vice president Andrew Wilson.

"Every minute of every day millions of fans around the world are experiencing what the critics have already said - 'FIFA Soccer' 13 is the biggest and best sports game we have ever created."

More than 66 million online multi-player sessions of the game have been played, with the number of fans playing with or against one another on the Internet topping 800,000 on Saturday.