Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, the latest installment of the popular military shooter game has broken the launch day sales record. The mega popular video game generated $400 million in sales and shattered the sales record held by its predecessor Call of Duty: Black Ops.
Shattering its own day-one sales records, Activision Publishing, Inc.,announced that its highly-anticipated Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has become the biggest entertainment launch ever with an estimated sell-through of more than $400 million and more than 6.5 million units in North America and the United Kingdom alone in the first 24 hours of its release, according to Charttrack and retail customer sell-through information.
This marks the third consecutive year that the Call of Duty franchise has set day one launch records across all forms of entertainment, something no other entertainment franchise in any medium has ever accomplished. Last year, in North America and the United Kingdom, Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops had estimated day-one sell-through of $360 million and in 2009, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, set day-one records with estimated sell through of $310 million, according to Charttrack and retail customer sell-through information.
What makes this even more astounding is that the direct competitor to the Call of Duty franchise, Electronic Arts’s Battlefield also launched recently. Add to this equation that the current economic climate is not the most favourable to our wallets and then one realises just how dominant /popular the Call of Duty franchise is.
Eric Hirshberg, CEO, Activision Publishing added, “Call of Duty is more than a game. It’s become a major part of the pop cultural landscape. It is a game that core enthusiasts love, but that also consistently draws new people into the medium. It is the most intense, adrenaline pumping entertainment experience anywhere. “
I wonder how many more copies of Modern Warfare will be sold and in total compared to the best selling games of all time. Will it be similar in sale volume to Xbox 360’s Halo 3 (14.5 million) or in the same range as Wii Sports (76.76 million)?
