Modern Warfare 3 writes Black Ops out of the record books
by Steven Mostyn - Nov 14 2011, 13:39
Image: Activision.
Given the seemingly immovable popularity of Activision’s bullet-fuelled Call of Duty series, the following slice of videogame news is likely to shock only those who’ve been living under a Nokia N-Gage since 2007.
Specifically, Activision and Infinity Ward’s newly released Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 raked in a mind-boggling $400 million USD (6.5 million copies sold) during its first day of availability in the U.S. and Great Britain.
“We believe the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is the biggest entertainment launch of all time in any medium, and we achieved this with record sales from only two territories,” trumpeted Activision boss Bobby Kotick in an official statement.
By way of compromise when gauged against a recently released rival offering, Modern Warfare 3 sold more copies during its opening day than EA’s Battlefield 3 sold in its first week of open sale.
Somewhat accustomed to breaking sales records in the videogame software market, the latest version of Modern Warfare has whipped the coveted ‘biggest entertainment launch’ accolade away from last year’s Call of Duty: Black Ops, which itself had displaced Modern Warfare 2.
Further ramming home the fan traction enjoyed by the long-running Call of Duty series, Kotick was also keen to point out that Activision’s hard-hitting military franchise has amassed total sales that exceed the box office takings for both the Star Wars and Lord of the Rings movies.
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