Batman: Arkham City ships 4.6 million in first week

Last week's outbreak of Batmania has grown into a global pandemic, as Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment today announced that worldwide shipments for Batman: Arkham City surpassed 4.6 million copies in the game's first seven days on sale. That's more than twice the first-week tally of the game's predecessor, 2009's Batman: Arkham Asylum.

While Rocksteady Games' sequel has bested its previous title's totals out of the gate, it still has a ways to go before it can become the biggest Batman game of the generation. The 2008 release Lego Batman has sold more than 7 million copies, and it has a sequel of its own on the way next year.

Like its predecessor, Arkham City drops Batman in the confines of an unconventional prison. But where Arkham Asylum stuck players in the halls and courtyards of a mental hospital overrun with the Joker's goons and allies, Arkham City deposits them in a sprawling neighborhood of Gotham City that has been walled off to contain the criminal element.

Under the watchful eye of "warden" Dr. Hugo Strange, who knows Batman's secret identity, inmates of Arkham City are free to do anything they want short of attempting escape. In addition to Strange, the game features Batman villains like Two-Face and the Joker.

Arkham City debuted on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 last week. A PC edition is set for release November 15. For more on the game, check out GameSpot's review of Batman: Arkham City.