COD: Black Ops obliterates MW2 sales record
In its first five days of availability, Call of Duty: Black Ops grosses over $650 million worldwide. Sony says the game is generating "unprecedented traffic to the PlayStation network."
After enjoying record launch day sales, Call of Duty: Black Ops has now taken the five-day sales record crown.
Activision announced today that the latest release in the venerable franchise tallied over $650 million in worldwide revenue, according to internal figures, easily besting the previous record set by predecessor Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 of $550 million.
Activision CEO Bobby Kotick said that with the new mark, "Call of Duty has become the first entertainment property in history to set five-day launch records for two consecutive years across all forms of entertainment."
The feat, Activision claimed in its statement, bested any release in "theatrical box office, book, and video game sales." But that comparison might be unfair. The average hardcover book usually launches for around $25 or $30, while the average movie ticket costs about $10. Call of Duty: Black Ops on the Nintendo DS retails for $30, but PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game cost at least $60. It's a sizable difference.
When it comes to online play, Call of Duty: Black Ops performed just as well. According to statistics Microsoft furnished to Activision, over 2.6 million people played the title on Xbox Live on launch day. All told, over 5.9 million hours were logged on Xbox Live on the first day the game was available. Last year, Modern Warfare 2 was played for 5.2 million hours on launch day.
For its part, Sony said that its online service has also benefited from Black Ops. Sony President and CEO Jack Tretton said that the company is seeing "unprecedented traffic to the PlayStation network" because of the game.
Be sure to check back soon for a full Q&A with Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg on Call of Duty: Black Ops sales figures.