EA has expressed its delight with the early performance of The Sims 3 in the UK.

Having released on Friday, the game debuted atop the UK all formats chart after recording the fourth biggest UK opening week ever for a PC title.

“We’re delighted by the launch of The Sims 3 this weekend in the UK,” Claire Ridley, UK marketing manager for the EA Play Label, told Edge. “It goes to show how significant a group the Sims players are in the UK and how passionate they are about the game."

Unfortunately for the publisher, a leaked copy of The Sims 3 appeared on torrent sites weeks ahead of the game’s launch. While an EA rep described the pirate version as “a buggy, pre-final build of the game” missing “half the world,” it has nevertheless proved popular. File sharing company BigChampagne suggested it was downloaded over 180,000 times between May 18 and May 21, while Bloomberg reported that illegal downloads equated to lost retail sales of $9 million.

While Ridley declined to comment directly on the game’s piracy rate, she said EA had provided legitimate buyers with extra content.

“We’ve given them a real incentive to purchase the finished game by offering a whole new neighbourhood online once they’ve registered.”

She also said that EA’s post-launch Sims 3 marketing campaign would continue to drive sales of the latest title in the 100 million plus selling series.

“As our marketing efforts continue throughout the year with online trial experiences we’re looking to bring in a whole group of new players too.”

You can check out Edge’s review of The Sims 3 here.