When DICE and EA finally announced that they were going to release an updated version of the classic Battlefield 1942 in the new Battlefield 1943 release, they were not prepared for the positive reception that it would receive. Our sources even tell us that the company was feeling like it was even a bit of a risk. Would console players flock to an updated remake of a PC game that many had never played?

The answer is a big resounding “Yes,” and DICE has the numbers to prove it. Word reached us today that Battlefield 1943, which was released only for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles, has sold an incredible 600,000 downloads since its launch on July 8th. Those numbers are even more impressive when you remember that this was a download-only console title and the title could be poised to vault the sales numbers even higher when the PC version of Battlefield 1943 is released in September to PC users that are anxiously awaiting its arrival.

As an additional feather in DICE’s cap, it has been reported that Battlefield 1943 now holds the record for both the fastest selling day one release as well as the largest selling one week sales for a download-only title on the Xbox 360 platform.

With Xbox 360 users being able to achieve 43 million kills in five days and PlayStation 3 users being able to achieve the same in eight days, despite the rough start with some of the early server issues, we have to say that the demand is there for DICE to raise the bar, which we believe will help it not only sell more copies of the upcoming Battlefield Bad Company 2, but Battlefield 3, which we also know is in development. Don’t be surprised if you see DICE bring some additional classic maps to 1943, as well. While there has yet to be an official announcement, we think with the strong showing of 1943 that it is only a matter of time.