Trials Evolution Sets Sales Record

Trials Evolution, the sequel to 2009 Xbox Live Arcade game Trials HD, has had a record-setting launch. Evolution is said to have sold more than 100,000 copies in a day, making it the highest-grossing XBLA release day ever.

The exact sales figures for the day weren't released. However, Gamasutra notes that there were 120,000 users on the online leaderboards on its first day. Evolution is priced at $15 (1200 MS Points) so the game earned at least $1.5 million on launch.

The demand for the game was higher than expected. The servers were actually overloaded at first and as a result there were some leaderboard issues. Microsoft eventually added new servers, though, to stablize the experience. Hopefully it'll be smooth sailing from here on out.

Finland-based developer RedLynx must be thrilled to see Evolution make a bigger splash than its predecessor. I'm sure Ubisoft is smiling right now, too. They purchased RedLynx back in November.

In Trials Evolution, players ride a motorcycle through obstacle courses. They must ride through the course as quickly as possible with as few crashes. Up to four players can race against each other online or on the same console. An editor included with the game allows players to create and share their own tracks. The editor has a the user friendly Lite mode and a more advanced Pro mode that allows players to script entirely new types of games.

Evolution debuted on XBLA on April 18th. It's the first game released as part of the Arcade Next promotion. The four-week string of high-profile XBLA releases will also include MineCraft Xbox 360 Edition, Fable Heroes and Bloodforge.