MW3 smashes billion-dollar Avatar record

by Steven Williamson on 13 December 2011, 15:56

Tags: Activision (NASDAQ:ATVI)

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If ever you needed proof that videogames are just as popular as movies then you only have to take a look at the startling sales performance of Activision’s Call Of Duty franchise.

Last year, Call of Duty: Black Ops broke theatrical box office, book, and videogame sales by raking in more than $650 million after just five days of release. The most recent reports reveal that Black Ops and has now sold over 25 million copies worldwide.

The hype surrounding the Call Of Duty series continues to grow and with the release of Modern Warfare 3 last month, Activision was bracing itself for another huge windfall from strong sales. As it turns out, Modern Warfare 3 has not only smashed the sales record set by Black Ops, but it’s also left behind the biggest grossing movie of all-time.

According to Activision, Modern Warfare 3 has crossed over the $1 billion sales mark in the first 16 days of release, overtaking the record previously set by Avatar, which achieved $1 billion in sales in 17 days. Activision’s CEO Bobby Kotick is obviously delighted.

Engagement of our Call of Duty audience continues to rise around the world” said Activision's CEO Bobby Kotick. “Call of Duty as an entertainment franchise has made an indelible mark on popular culture and its broad and continued success is further validation that audiences increasingly value interactive experiences over passive experiences.

Bigger than Avatar


Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg added: “Call of Duty has become that rare entertainment franchise that transcends its own genre. Core gamers love it, as our stellar reviews show. But every year, new people are drawn into Call of Duty.

“And while the franchise continues to set records, our fans still seem to want more, demonstrated by our record setting start on Call of Duty Elite. We are committed to helping everyone connect, compete and improve their game, Call of Duty style.

With Call Of Duty making Activision so much money on a yearly basis, how long will it be before we get a twice yearly dose of the shooter, in one form or another?

Check out the HEXUS review of Modern Warfare 3


HEXUS Forums :: 13 Comments

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With Call Of Duty making Activision so much money on a yearly basis, how long will it be before we get a twice yearly dose of the shooter, in one form or another?
Oh … my … god … ffs, please no. :wallbash: (and I count myself as a CoD fan)

I'm already pretty annoyed that Activision seem hell bent on milking this for all it's worth with “Elit3”, how long before CoD MP is a monthly subscription? (Actually, maybe I should keep quiet - don't want to give them ideas!)

Getting back to the game - I'm glad, (and I'm one of the folks who pre-ordered), that it's done well - the story was actually quite good this time, certainly streets better than MW2. Although, I've got a slight preference for the story in BF3, and unlike a lot of folks I thought the one in BO was pretty reasonable as well - but it's “fashionable” to regard Treyarch's CoD's as badly flawed.

Now that the “MW” story arc has ended I wonder if the next instalment will do as well. Maybe I'm being catty, but I suspect that it won't and MW3 will be seen as the zenith in CoD's fortunes, (in both senses of the word).
I doubt it….as long as at least one of the new consoles are out next year, I foresee next years COD breaking all the records again….and increasing the number of formats they release it on!
I actually got round to playing this yesterday, and the amount of people that were wallhacking was unreal, now i have been playing games like this since early teens and im long past that and i can tell easy enough how to spot them

You can easily spot from killcam … tracking me though walls and then BANG as soon as i appear … so obvious … i know all games have there fair share of cheats but this was really bad, every other person i was getting kill off was tracking me through walls.

May be they should put more effort into stamping that out as it was a joke ….

I used to love the earlier COD series like most people but this is nothing new … same crap different name.

for me BF3 is far superior in every way shape and form ….
Steve A;2213817
I used to love the earlier COD series like most people but this is nothing new … same crap, SLIGHTLY different name.

for me BF3 is far superior in every way shape and form ….

I think BF3 and CoD 8, yes EIGHT were both lacklustre, played both on my friend's PC, just dire; CoD's storytelling and pacing has been severely flushed down the toilet since CoD4, and yeah, I hear the cheating in CoD 8 is rampent, ironic considering their very reasons for not allowing dedicated servers and don't put it past either EA or Activision, EA will bring it in via that Origin nonsense and Activision via Elit3, eurgh! .

Forget DRM, Activision and EA are doing a VERY good job of sucking the fun and imagination out of the gaming industry on their own… ¬_¬
Haven't bought it yet, I kind of want to play campaign but I've been in a pattern of; play cod, wait for new one, experience disappointment, expect next will be worse but still buy it…
It's a game that really doesn't deserve to do as well as it does, there are plenty of indie games (most of them probably) which are more fun to play, last longer and have fewer bugs at a fraction of the price. But I suppose MW meets the zero-intelligence requirement of many gamers. :(

Can't say I was massively impressed with BF3 although I do prefer it over CoD. It's a step backwards from BC2 in many ways, destruction for example. So much for this new, GPU-accelerated Frostbite 2 engine! Even the 7 walls in the game you can destroy just fall apart in the same way every single time. Yes, flattening buildings containing, or C4ing, M-coms was a PITA but this isn't the answer. Torches also seem to make the person holding them near-invincible. But there's little else more satisfying than mortaring a camping sniper. :P