Borderlands 2 has beaten Mass Effect 3 and claimed the title of best-selling debut launch of 2012 for the U.K. According to Chart-track, Gearbox’s and 2k Games’ Borderlands sequel has sold over 4,000 more copies than Bioware’s and EA’s Mass Effect 3 did during its spring release.

Chart-track is a home entertainment market research company that was founded in 1996. It keeps track of music, video, and software retail sales in the UK and Ireland.

The original Borderlands only reached number 7 on the chart-track chart when it was released three years ago. However, the game’s popularity grew through word-of-mouth and some very entertaining downloadable content (DLC). According to Chart-track, Borderlands 2 has outsold the original’s launch sales by 4 times.

Another interesting statistic to come from the charts is that the Xbox 360 version of Borderlands 2 is by far the most popular version of the game. Xbox 360 copies account for 71% of the game’s sales, with the PlayStation 3 (22%) and PC (7%) lagging behind.

So, Borderlands 2 has kicked off the holiday gaming season with a bang. It’s clear from the other two games that round out this week’s top 3 on Chart-track (F1 2012 and Pro Evolution Soccer 2013) that it has been a slow summer for console gaming. With Halo 4, Assassin’s Creed III, and Dishonored on the horizon, Borderlands 2 might have a hard time keeping this honor.

(via Joystiq)