Gears of War 3's first week sales figures are in, and it turns out our Xav wasn't the only one who liked it. Microsoft announced today that the conclusion to Epic's Xbox 360-exclusive trilogy has sold over 3 million copies, pushing the franchise's lifetime sales past $1 billion.

According to Microsoft, this makes Gears of War series one of "only a select few game franchises to surpass one billion dollars in lifetime sales," and "the first Xbox 360-exclusive franchise introduced this console generation to eclipse the billion dollar milestone." What it's trying to say is that lots of people have bought Gears of War.

Microsoft also claims that these first week sales alone have seen Gears of War 3 out-gross any 2011 video game's sales to date, though we'll doubtless see the multiplatform Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 smash that in November.

With Gears 3 out the door, great gobs of downloadable content are in the works, with at least four sizable packs spread across the next year from November. If you know you'll buy them all, no matter what they are, you can save a third by buying a DLC Season Pass for 2400 Microsoft Points ($30).

However, new campaign content won't star Delta Squad. "You're not going to see Marcus or Dom or Cole in it. I believe that DLC should be unique and cool," Epic's Cliff Bleszinski said. He pointed to Grand Theft Auto IV's standalone 'Ballad of Gay Tony' and 'Lost and the Damned' add-ons as inspiration.