Xbox Magazine both ranked Burnout 3: Takedown as their "Game of the Year" ahead of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Halo 2 respectively. Eurogamer staff rated Burnout 3 in ninth place on their list of the top fifty games of 2004. GameSpot named it the best Xbox game of September 2004, and it won the publication's annual "Best Driving Game" award across all platforms. At the 2nd British Academy Games Awards, Burnout 3 won three awards in the "PS2", "Racing", and "Technical Direction" categories, and received three further nominations in the "Art Direction", "Online Multiplayer", and "Xbox" categories. The game won "Racing Game of the Year" and was nominated for "Console Game of the Year" at the 2005 Interactive Achievement Awards. For its showcase at E3 2004, Burnout 3 won "Best Racing Game" from the Game Critics Awards. At the 2004 Golden Joystick Awards, Burnout 3 won the "PlayStation 2 Game of the Year" category and was a runner-up for "Online Game of the Year". At the 2004 Spike Video Game Awards, Burnout 3 won "Best Driving Game" and was nominated for "Game of the Year". It also won the viewer's choice award for "Most Addictive Game". Alex Ward and Criterion were nominated for "Designer of the Year" for their work on Burnout 3. Commercial performance Burnout 3: Takedown debuted at number one in the UK software chart. During the game's launch week in the UK, 57% of sales were for the PlayStation 2 and 43% were for the Xbox. The game became the fourth fastest selling Xbox title ever in the UK. Sales of the PlayStation 2 version increased by 32% the following week. In Europe as a whole, Burnout 3 sold above 1 million units by the end of September 2004. The game's PlayStation 2 version ultimately received a "Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 300,000 copies in the United Kingdom. In Australia, Burnout 3 placed in third and ninth respectively in the PlayStation 2 and Xbox software charts at launch. The game performed strongly in Japan, achieving 32,000 sales during launch week and debuted in second place on the software charts. By July 2006, the PlayStation 2 version of Burnout 3 had sold 900,000 copies and earned $28 million in the United States. Next Generation ranked it as the 65th highest-selling game launched for the