Despite criticism directed towards the last few Call of Duty installments for lacking innovation, each successive installment has been able to beat out its predecessor in sales, taking world records on an annual basis. 2010's Black Ops was dubbed the best-selling game of all time not long after it set the all-time five-day opening sales record. A year later, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 became the biggest entertainment launch ever, topping even Black Ops' $5.6 million opening day of sales with over $6 million.

It started strong but analysts predict that Modern Warfare 3's long-term outlook isn't nearly as strong as it was with Black Ops. Fortunately for Activision, Treyarch may be offering the boost they need with the seemingly radically different Black Ops 2 since its pre-orders have already tripled that of Black Ops.

In comparing the first-day pre-order sales of Black Ops and its future-based sequel, Black Ops II has tripled that of its predecessor. In chatting with MCV, Amazon UK's video games manager Graham Chambers explains why it's doing well:

"Set to be one of the biggest games of the year, it's great to see so much enthusiasm and anticipation for Call of Duty: Black Ops II... Bolder and better than before and with everything from a futuristic storyline through to single player mode, Zombies and multiplayer, Black Ops II promises something Call of Duty fans have never seen before."

The game has only been on the market since its unveiling on Tuesday (check out the Black Ops II pre-order bonuses for more info) so there's no telling how sales will go leading up to its release in May. However, we can say they started off on the right foot and are pleasantly surprising may of the skeptics they had begun to lose with the last few games.

Has Treyarch caught your interest with the next Call of Duty?

Call of Duty: Black Ops II releases November 13, 2012 for the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.

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Source: MCV