EA announced late yesterday that their long-running Need For Speed racing franchise recently passed the 100 million (!) units sold mark, placing it in a pretty exclusive club and generating $2.7 billion in life-to-date sales, making it the best selling racing brand in the gaming world.

President of the EA Games Label, Frank Gibeau, said of the achievement: “Few videogame franchises ever reach the 100M units mark, so this is a huge honor. We have millions of fans to thank for driving us to this milestone.

“With the launch of Need for Speed SHIFT and the upcoming release of Need for Speed NITRO, we hope to continue to deliver the most entertaining, action-packed racing experiences.”

Since the release of the original Need For Speed on the 3DO in 1994, the franchise has racked up quite a few impressive statistics, including the following:

• Launched 15 blockbuster titles across more than 14 platforms
• Released in 22 languages in over 60 countries
• Players have raced over 279 billion miles of roads & race tracks
• Generated over 17 trillion user-generated vehicle customizations
• Featured actors, models & musicians including: Brooke Burke (Wild On), Christina Milian (Ghosts of Girlfriends Past), Emmanuelle Vaugier (Two and a Half Men), Josie Maran (Sports Illustrated swimsuit model and actress), Maggie Q (Mission: Impossible III), Kanye West, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The Prodigy
• Debuted exclusive remix from Snoop Dogg of The Door’s classic song Riders on the Storm
• Sold more games than all new passenger cars sales in the U.S since 1994
• If Need for Speed boxes were laid out end-to-end, it would span 173,609 football fields
• 100M units represents nearly every household in the United States and is 3x the population of Canada

To celebrate this major achievement, EA is giving away EA Store discount codes for 25% off of any Need For Speed title (including the latest releases Shift and the upcoming Nitro) to Facebook users who leave a comment on the official Facebook fan page before October 29th (Thursday next week).

(Note: only one code per person. You’ll also need to become a fan of the group before being allowed to leave a comment.)

Watch a celebration trailer below released by EA to mark this historic achievement: