Despite the Sims 3 piracy problems and some issues with the Disc Authentication Errors, Electronic Arts managed to strike lucky with the release of the highly anticipated simulation game and sold in the first week 1.4 million copies of the game – more than any other launch of a Sims game ever! Even more, as if these number alone wasn’t enough, EA also reports that over 7 million player created content was downloaded during the first week.

“With more than a dozen press awards, strong reviewer scores and positive feedback from The Sims community, we are thrilled with the success of The Sims 3 launch and the early sales indicate that we have another hit on our hands,” said Rod Humble, Head of the EA Play Label. “The volume of items created with The Sims 3 and downloaded online is a testament to how passionate The Sims players are. It’s their world now, we can’t wait to see everything players create and share.”

It’s worth noting that the 1.4 million units sold refer only to The Sims 3 for PC and Mac, but the game is also available for purchase for the iPhone, where it’s been the #1 app since launch, so the final numbers are certainly much bigger. I must admit that I am a bit surprised with these huge numbers, especially because the incredible amount of pirated copies out in the wild, but I am also happy to hear that, in the end, PC gaming is not doomed by piracy, as the console fans and developers claim.