NPD Declares Black Ops the Best-Selling Game Ever

[John Funk]

NPD Declares Black Ops the Best-Selling Game Ever

Last year's Call of Duty: Black Ops is officially the best-selling game of all time in the US, according to NPD.

Flash back two years ago to early 2009: Activision said that it was hoping that Modern Warfare 2 would be the best-selling game of all time [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/90653-Modern-Warfare-2-Best-Seller-of-All-Time], and we laughed. Sure, it'd sell phenomenally well, but the best ever? What were the odds of that?

Modern Warfare 2 might not have topped the charts, but its successor Black Ops has done just that. In a statement released last night, NPD's Anita Frazier said that Black Ops had surpassed Wii Play to become the best-selling game ever in the United States.

While there isn't a concrete number as to just how many copies Black Ops sold, Joystiq [http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/10/npd-call-of-duty-black-ops-is-the-uss-best-selling-game-ever/] pointed out that Nintendo had claimed 13 million copies of Wii Play as of last October. Factor in the time since then - including the busy holiday season - and remember that whatever your own personal estimate is, Black Ops sold more than that.

Black Ops moved 5.6 million copies on day one [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/105215-Black-Ops-Beats-MW2-in-Launch-Day-Sales], but that was counting both the US and the UK, so there's no real way to know how it all broke down.

The Escapist Editor-in-Chief Russ Pitts multiplayer side of things [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/8317-Review-Call-of-Duty-Black-Ops] much stronger. Apparently, quite a few people thought the game was worth picking up for themselves, too.

Congratulations, Treyarch. Enjoy your laurels before Call of Duty: The Next One breaks the record again.

Permalink

 

[Awexsome]

I don't think CoD's popularity can last much longer with how quick the games they release are. I bet Modern Warfare 3, when it comes out, will still have the mass popularity behind it but I just don't see it going much farther than that. I mean... after MW2 what else can they do with it?

Past? Maybe. They've already done WW2 shooters, but they might go back with WaW being the only "current gen" build of the series set in the past.

Modern? They can't keep making Modern Warfare over and over... even the most devoted fans would get sick of it.

Future? They'll be dangerously close to Halo's territory. Perhaps the near future where we can't leave our own solar system yet but still enough to be considered space marines. But any aliens show up and the shit will hit the fan.

As for Blops? I bought it. It wasn't a day one purchase but all my friends have it. At least Treyarch is trying to balance and support the online unlike MW2. It's not perfect, I prefer quite a few games over it but I still play it from time to time.

 

[Dendio]

With this milestone it seems treyarch has completed its take over of the call of duty francise. Infinity ward seems defeated and dont even have a spot in the march madness

 

[hem dazon 90]

If only it was World at war...

I mean I like black ops but still, World at war man.

 

[koroem]

So over 13 million people are drinking the kool-aid.....

 

[Jabberwock xeno]

So then the top 5 is:

1. Black ops
2. Super mario bros
3. MW2
4. Halo 3
5. Whatever

I refuse to acknowaaldge wii play as a game, it's more like a free bonus to buying the will than anything else.

 

[The Imp]

Hey, let's eat cow dung - trillions of flies can't be wrong!

Yeah...

 

[JediMB]

Misleading title, since the world is bigger than just the United States of America.

Wii Play has sold nearly 28 million units
Mario Kart Wii has sold 26.5
Wii Sports Resort 26.35
New Super Mario Bros. 26.21

etc.

Good old Super Mario Bros. 3 clocked in at 18 million.

 

[Master10K]

This news really doesn't mean much anymore, due to the inflated popularity of the Call of Duty franchise. I played Black Ops for a couple hours at a friend's house... didn't like it so I didn't buy and all of my friend's have either traded in their copies or stopped playing it, because it's just not that fun. And this is coming from someone who's bought: Call of Duty, Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty 3 (didn't like), Call of Duty: MW & Call of Duty: MW2.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Call of Duty 4.3? THAT knockoff piece of shit? *THE* best seller?
Now that's just depressing (even if it's just Day-One sales figures, there are other games with much greater total numbers sold).

 

[Imbechile]

This news makes me sad :,(

 

[SturmDolch]

130 hours on multiplayer... Yeah, it's solid. I completely agree with the Escapist's review. In fact, I would have rated the single player even lower. It was terrible in every way, and completely offensive. The multiplayer was great fun, though.

But I won't be picking up the DLC when it comes out. It's too little, too late, for too high a price.

I don't have a problem with this game being the best selling game ever. It's the best selling game for the same reason that Avatar is the best selling movie. Not because it's better than anything else, but because it's easily accessible. Both don't require much thinking, so you can easily tune out and play (watch) when you get home from a long week. And that's exactly what the average consumer is looking for in a video game.

 

[DaHero]

Over 13 million people bought into an e-peen fest with grenade launchers and noob tactics galore.

Maybe the Mayans were right? 2012 WILL be the end of the world.

Hey, let's eat cow dung - trillions of flies can't be wrong!

Yeah...

Ninja! No cookie for you >.>

 

[The Apothecarry]

This just in: NOBODY GIVES A FUCK

I for one am sick of the Call of Duty franchise. Yes, I'll admit I bought Black Ops at the begging and leading of my friends, but it's the game I play the least. Besides, it was also the MOST PIRATED GAME of all time, so how many of those 5.6 million copies are illegal downloads?

And the only reason "more players play Call of Duty than Halo" is because the series has 7 games compared to Halo's 6.

 

[Jamieson 90]

I can't remember since it has been such a long time but did't the origial Half life sell millions as well? Anyone got the figures? I'm sure it was more copies than Black ops.

 

[RUINER ACTUAL]

Still doesn't mean it's good. All my friends who bought Blops hoping it would fix unbalanced things from MW2 have since started playing MW2 again for lack of improvement.

When you try to improve on (near) perfection, CoD4, it seems you only end up fucking things up.

 

[RUINER ACTUAL]

This just in: NOBODY GIVES A FUCK

And the only reason "more players play Call of Duty than Halo" is because the series has 7 games compared to Halo's 6.

Plus it's on 3 systems, Halo is on 1. Taking that into account, Halo is the REAL winner here.

If you are sick of CoD, perhaps you are looking forward to Homefront, Brink, or Battlefield 3?

 

[The Apothecarry]

This just in: NOBODY GIVES A FUCK

And the only reason "more players play Call of Duty than Halo" is because the series has 7 games compared to Halo's 6.

Plus it's on 3 systems, Halo is on 1. Taking that into account, Halo is the REAL winner here.

If you are sick of CoD, perhaps you are looking forward to Homefront, Brink, or Battlefield 3?

Brink looks absolutely amazing. Homefront looks like Turning Point: Fall of Liberty in a modern setting. The Battlefield series has never struck that right chord with me. I don't mean to be hating if Homefront or Battlefield 3 looks good to you. I'm in college and have little money so I've practically sold my soul to Bungie in exchange for entertainment.

 

[xXDeMoNiCXx]

I can't help but laugh. Who cares really? After everything else i've heard about this game this just seems like Treyarch is gloating and rubbing the game in our faces some more cause it thinks we all should worship them. The game is ok, but generic after all the CoD games they're popping out.