It was a given that Madden NFL 13 would sell big. It’s one of the franchises that EA counts on to underpin its year-to-year business and one that the company loves to talk about when addressing investors. It’s no surprise, then, that EA announced this week that its internal estimates place sales for the game at 900,000 copies during the first 24 hours after its release.

According to EA, this is the best start for a Madden franchise game during the current console generation, up 7% from Madden NFL 12‘s launch. The franchise and console-specific caveats make the “record-setting” quality of the announcement laughable, but 900,000 games sold is nothing to sniff at. Still, it doesn’t even come close to Diablo III‘s 3.5 million copies sold on its first day.

“Madden NFL 13 is the most innovative entry the franchise has ever seen and we’re thrilled that fans have embraced it with such a huge first day,” said Andrew Wilson, executive vice president of EA Sports. “As we approach the kickoff of the NFL season next week, the football community is whetting their appetites by playing Madden NFL 13 in record numbers. With the combination of the cutting-edge Infinity Engine and new Connected Careers fans are truly getting their football fix with the best Madden NFL game ever.”

EA also announced the franchise-specific metric that Madden NFL 13 also set a record for online usage during its first day. According to the publisher, online usage was up 28% from Madden NFL 12‘s launch day.