If there were any lingering doubts that despite the massive influx in top-quality games and shooters these days, Call of Duty still holds a unique spot atop the pile, this should be the last reassurance anyone needs. After the release of Modern Warfare 3 in early November broke several opening day records, Activision is now claiming that the game managed to break the $1 billion mark in just over 2 weeks. That makes it the fastest entertainment property to ever do so, finally cementing Modern Warfare 3 as the financial peak of the Call of Duty franchise to date.
In a press release issued this morning, Activision revealed the staggering sales numbers that currently place the game’s sales well above even that lofty mark, since the game is surely continuing to sell into the holiday season. While some might disagree with MW3 being considered the Avatar of video games, the James Cameron-helmed 3D feature took 17 days to rake in $1 billion, a whole 24 hours longer than Infinity Ward‘s latest gun-toting thrill-ride.
Modern Warfare 3 had long since surpassed the previous release, Black Ops, after shattering its 5-day sales numbers, but the seemingly unstoppable momentum of the latest game is truly impressive. What the numbers show – and what Activision is happy to point out – is that not only are fans getting more and more eager to play the game immediately upon release, but that more players are joining the community every year. Whether you’re included in that group or not, it’s no longer possible to ignore the rise from game to cultural phenomenon that the Call of Duty series has become.
Now boasting a community of over 30 million players – seriously, almost the population of Canada – the devoted online fans have helped even years-old games beat Battlefield 3, making the previously gutsy claims of Electronic Arts seem somewhat futile in hindsight. With advertising campaigns featuring bigger stars than ever, and another title on the way from Sledgehammer, the series has yet to show any signs of slowing.
In addition to the staggering sales of the game itself, Activision is also expanding upon the previously released Call of Duty Elite subscription numbers. Over 6 million players have signed up for the service, with 1 million willing to pay up for the premium subscription. With the launch issues now confined to the past, that means that 1 in 5 CoD players is enjoying the extra features available with Elite: an impressive launch to say the least.
But as impressive as those numbers are, it may defy many expectations that were posed when rumors of a paid subscription service first surfaced. Industry analysts claimed that the rabid, dedicated, map-pack-devouring fans of the series would line up and turn out their pockets if they could get even a bit more content from the franchise or its developers. With that opportunity now given, to see just over 3% pay for a premium service paints a very different picture.
Perhaps it’s only the fiercely loyal fans (and yes, ‘fanboys’) that are constructing an image of a community as ‘hardcore’ and militant in their support as the game’s soldiers themselves. But with the sales growing every year, it’s getting harder to ignore the fact that it’s far more likely that more casual gamers are being folded into the CoD mix. If that is the case – with 80% of the game’s buyers not signed up for the Elite service at all – then the momentum and potential for the next Call of Duty to outperform this release is even greater.
What’s your take on the sales record smashed by Modern Warfare 3? Think movies and games can ever be equated in terms of dollars, or the discrepancy makes any comparisons misleading?
Modern Warfare 3 is available now for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.
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Oh please. Call of Duty stopped being hardcore when MW2 came out. It’s more casual than khaki jeans
Think you meant shorts and flip-flops, lol.
Makes me sad. More people watch stupid reality shows than intelligent shows with rich plotlines and characters, people are actually impressed by garbage games like Rainbow Six: Vegas over the realistic and smart original Rainbow Six games, comedies with stupid toilet or drinking humor does better than thought-provoking movies, I think everyday we get more and more proof of how dumb society is getting…
Couldn’t agree more ^
This game sucks, I played it for a week before selling it on Glyde. I thought it was going to be fun, but it’s just the same engine with the same guns and the same sound effects. At least BF3 has better graphics, vehicles and the guns sound better. From a multi-player perspective. Plus there’s no packet loss online since there are dedicated servers.
Yeah reality shows are dumb.
Don’t get me wrong though, I still play MW3. But it’s annoying because soooooo many people are just total noobs and dicks on that game. Some people are just ridiculously good. It’s sad too because all of the experts on the game have the lowest Gamerscores. The correlation is staggering between CoD players and low Gamerscores. That’s really saying something about the Modern Warfare crowd.
Most Modern Warfare players only play mainstream shooters, that’s why they are too good at it, and that’s why their Gamerscore is low.
My Gamerscore is about 25,000 by the way lol
Worst COD yet.
This is so epic. CoD is the best game ever made. In fact why do we even bother to play anything else?
Gamerant does anything at all to get hits. COD EP!( foreverzzzz!!!!one!!!1!1!
because theres skyrim and skyrim is awsome!!!!
Plus+
Sheeple… Nuff said lol
Sad to see something with little/no real effort put into it in the last 4 years do so well. There are so many incredible games that try to bring something new and interesting to the table only to get shoved aside for a 4 year old game with slightly different maps
Well said ‘SV’, so true. COD is definitely a titan. It’s really strange though, it really is. More often than not when i run into a COD related article there’s always people saying how its MW2.5 or about the dated engine or its the same as it was in ’07. Yet it sells at an astronomical rate despite the “Quality” of the game(‘s). That being said, i came to the conclusion that Activision deserves all the props in the world for being able to make so Much money with so little. If it makes any sense. It really is interesting and something to admire…
Oh well, Everybody is surprised now right? WAIT TILL THE PS4/Xbox720 VERSION RUMORS START! Seriously, Every Dev, all the way down to the intern has got to be a millionaire by now….
Damn and I thought bf3 would have took a chunk of the market. People can say what ever they want about bf3 (personally i like it). But to dominate the fps market is amazing. Hopefully fps devs take this billion dollar market to heart and make quality games.
What’s funny is the same people who bitch and complain about COD are more than likely the ones who still buy it every year on the first day of release. Whether they trade it in or not, they still purchase it and act like some imaginative force is making them spend $60 every year on COD. $1Billion sales isn’t just from noobs and kids, that’s just common sense. I’m not really big on COD but if it’s making money, I definitely can’t hate them. if we could put out something every year and have people stand in line for our products, we most certainly would do it.
xCARTELSINALOAx is a cheater on several Playstation 3 games including Modern Warfare 3 and Red Dead Redemption. He uses a modded PS3 console with an aimbot and a modified controller.
Didier-Game-PS is a cheater on Call Of Duty Black Ops and Red Dead Redemption for the Playstation 3. He uses a modded PS3 console and a modified controller.
AvilesMexGangsta is a cheater on Red Dead redemption for the Playstation 3. He uses a modded PS3 console and a modified controller.
GOD_ALMIGHTY_88 is a cheater on several Playstation 3 games including Modern Warfare 3 and Red Dead Redemption. He uses a modded PS3 console and a modified controller.
LineFire95 is a cheater on Red Dead Redemption for the Playstation 3. He uses a modded PS3 console with an aimbot and a modified controller.
ThE-DoCtOR-1080 is a cheater on Red Dead Redemption for the Playstation 3. He uses a modded PS3 console with an aimbot and a modified controller.
paxsato is a known cheater on Red Dead Redemption for the Playstation 3. This uneducated punk uses a modded PS3 console with an aimbot, a modified controller, wall hacks, and the invincibility glitch. If you see this punk in a game just vote to kick his cheating ass out. For those of you on Call Of Duty Black Ops we have also recieved several complaints about paxsato cheating on that game as well.
terrygetmoney1 is a cheater on several Playstation 3 games including Call of Duty Black Ops, Modern Warfare 3 and Red Dead Redemption. This punk uses a modded PS3 console with an aimbot and a modified controller. Not only that, he sucks at these games so bad that he has to camp to get kills.
BVB09kev is a cheater on Red Dead Redemption for the Playstation 3. This punk uses a modded PS3 console with an aimbot and a modified controller.
HOUND299 is a cheater on Red Dead Redemption for the Playstation 3. This punk uses a modded PS3 console with an aimbot and a modified controller. He also plays Modern Warfare 3 and more then likely cheats on that game as well.
kingvk3 is a cheater on Red Dead Redemption for the Playstation 3. This punk uses a modded PS3 console with an aimbot and a modified controller.
eric36125 is a cheater on Red Dead Redemption for the Playstation 3. This punk uses a modded PS3 console with an aimbot and a modified controller.
MoOoDy-CR7 is a cheater on Red Dead Redemption for the Playstation 3. This punk uses a modded PS3 console with an aimbot and a modified controller. He also plays Battlefield 3 and more then likely cheats on that game as well.
hmoody-10-ksa is a cheater on Red Dead Redemption for the Playstation 3. This Saudi punk uses a modded PS3 console with an aimbot and a modified controller.
hero-ksa22 is a cheater on Red Dead Redemption for the Playstation 3. This punk from the KSA uses a modded PS3 console with an aimbot and a modified controller.
ChiantiGLACE is a cheater on Red Dead Redemption for the Playstation 3. This bitch uses a modded PS3 console with an aimbot, a modified controller and a lag switch.
MrREDRUM-GUNZ is a cheater on Red Dead Redemption for the Playstation 3. This punk uses a modded PS3 console with an aimbot and a modified controller. He also plays Battlefield 3 and more then likely cheats on that game as well.
ChiantiGLACE is a cheater on Red Dead Redemption for the Playstation 3. This bitch uses a modded PS3 console with an aimbot, a modified controller and a lag switch.
MrREDRUM-GUNZ is a cheater on Red Dead Redemption for the Playstation 3. This punk uses a modded PS3 console with an aimbot and a modified controller. He also plays Battlefield 3 and more then likely cheats on that game as well.