With a trend that started with Gears of War 3 and looks like it won’t stop until Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, we’ve got a new top-selling game coming out every few weeks. Topping the charts with a frist week shipment of 4.6 million copies is Batman: Arkham City.

It was hard to say how many copies the game would sell, given it’s position on the release schedule. With huge opening from Gears of War 3 and FIFA 12 just weeks before it, and a line up of Battlefield 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, and Elder Scrolls: Skyrim to follow, Batman could have become the non-essential game of the bunch. The Dark Knight came out swinging for Rocksteady and Warner Bros., though, landing one of the biggest first week sales to date.

There were no official sales figures released, so the amount of those 4.6 million sold isn’t known quite yet, but they don’t print those things just for fun. It’s safe to assume a very large chunk of those are now empty spots on store shelves.

[Source]