Activision’s Call of Duty Hits $1 Billion in Sales in 15 Days

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, the mega warfare hit of the season, has crossed $1 billion in sales in just 15 days.

On the game’s first day, it achieved $500 million in sales, setting a new record for the Santa Monica, Calif.-based game publisher.

Last year, it took 16 days for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 to hit $1 billion. Both games achieved those stratospheric numbers faster than the movie “Avatar,” which took 17 days to hit $1 billion at the box office.

The other big shooter released this season, Halo 4, which is only available on the Xbox, sold $220 million in its first day on sale.

The sales figures are according to internal company estimates and Chart-Track, which keeps tabs on retail customer sell-through information. The game, while rated “M” for “mature” because of the intense violence and strong language, reaches an enormously broad audience for a first-person videogame that takes hours to master.

In a release, Activision Blizzard’s CEO Bobby Kotick said, “Since Call of Duty was launched, cumulative franchise revenues from players around the world are greater than current worldwide box office receipts to date for the top-10 grossing films of 2012 combined. Life-to-date sales for the Call of Duty franchise have exceeded worldwide theatrical box office receipts for ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Star Wars,’ the two most successful movie franchises of all time.”

Many say the comparisons to movies are not fair, since a trip to the theater costs roughly $10 apiece, while Call of Duty costs $60 to own. However, a movie takes about two hours to watch, whereas the game can be enjoyed for weeks. For example, since the game’s launch, more than 150 million hours have been logged online playing Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 through Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network.

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