Modern Warfare 2 smashes all records


13 Nov 2009

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has officially become the highest-earning entertainment launch in history, grossing more than US$300 million in its first day of sales in the UK and US alone.

Modern Warfare 2 has not just outsold any other video game on the first day of its release on 12 November; it has also completely trounced all Hollywood blockbusters.

If you take a look at comparable figures, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince holds the record for worldwide openings, taking in US$394 million, but this is for an entire weekend and on a global scale.

And if you think of the biggest-trending topic on Google this year, it has to be Michael Jackson’s death, yet his posthumous movie earned US$20 million on the first day in comparison to Modern Warfare’s US$310 million with 4.7 million copies sold – gaming has really arrived as an entertainment medium.

“The Call of Duty franchise has become a cultural phenomenon, showing the power of video games as an entertainment medium,” said Activision chief executive Mike Griffith.

“The shattering of these entertainment records is a testament to the compelling, cinematic and uniquely engaging experience that the Call of Duty brand delivers,” he added.

By Marie Boran

Photo: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.