Max Payne 3 has beaten Diablo III to the number one spot in this week’s UK charts.

The gap between the two games was by 8,000 units.

It’s the first number one for the Payne series, making a return eight-and-a-half years after the Remedy-developed Max Payne 2, with MP3 outselling MP2 by a figure of 10-1. It’s also the biggest launch of this year so far, beating Mass Effect 3.

On a platform breakdown, a majority of sales for Max went to Xbox 360 at 58%, while the remaining 42% are on PS3. The PC version releases next Friday in the UK.

The Blizzard RPG will have to settle for second behind the Rockstar shooter, despite becoming the 12th biggest PC launch in the UK ever and selling more than the past two Football Manager games.

Last week’s number one Sniper Elite V2 falls to four behind FIFA Street, while FIFA 12 rounds off the top five.

Full top ten for the week ending May 19 is below. Last week’s data is HERE .

1 – Max Payne 3
2 – Diablo III
3 – FIFA Street
4 – Sniper Elite V2
5 – FIFA 12
6 – Prototype 2
7 – Modern Warfare 3
8 – Battlefield 3
9 – Assassin’s Creed: Revelations
10 – Mario and Sonic at the London Olympics

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I'm suprised by this as there are a lot of Diablo fanboys. I think that like me people have been waiting for a decent big release, and Rockstar heavily promoted this game to the point of it being a "Must have".

The gap in the market was perfect for this games release, no big titles just been or just about to be released so people have the cash to spend on max Payne, I think if it was released around the same time as another big title this wouldn't have been such a success, rockstar are brilliant at timing their releases to maximize their revenue. That's why dont dont just release game after game everyyear like some companies, no names mentioned....*cough* EA *cough*

i cant believe it Diablo 3 is 2nd, WTF, i was sure it would beat Max Payne DAMM!!!