COD: Modern Warfare 3 breaks first-day sales records


11 Nov 2011

A scene from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has sold more than 6.5m units in the US and UK in its first day alone, topping previous records set by its prequels.

According to Activision Blizzard, it earned US$400m in sales within the first 24 hours of release.

This compares to Call of Duty: Black Ops’ sales of US$360m in one day and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s first-day sales of US$310m.

In addition, Microsoft said the number of gamers playing it simultaneously on Xbox Live set a new peak concurrency record.

The game launched globally on 8 November, with more than 13,000 midnight openings worldwide. Activision had previously said the game experienced record pre-orders.

Activision Blizzard CEO Robert Kotick believes it could be “the biggest entertainment launch of all time in any medium,” which was achieved “from only two territories.”

“Other than Call of Duty, there has never been another entertainment franchise that has set opening-day records three years in a row. Life-to-date sales for the Call of Duty franchise exceed worldwide theatrical box office for Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, two of the most successful entertainment franchises of all time,” said Kotick.