Modern Warfare 3 Blows Up Single Day Sales Record

Greg Tito

PR for Dungeons & Dragons
Sep 29, 2005
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Modern Warfare 3 Blows Up Single Day Sales Record



Activision broke its own record with $400 million in sales of MW3 on launch day.

Two years ago, Modern Warfare 2 was a smash hit from day one, selling nearly 7 million copies to make its publisher very happy with $310 million in revenue. Black Ops followed suit the next year by generating $360 million the first 24 hours it was available. This week, MW3 sold an estimated 6.5 million copies for an ungodly amount of $400 million. Everyone wanted to get their hands on the game, few weirdos [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114117-Modern-Warfare-3-Fan-Fends-Off-Really-Stupid-Thief]. The Call of Duty series has come under attack from rival Electronic Arts Battlefield 3 trying to compete on equal footing. Activision president Mr. Bobby Kotick is undoubtedly pleased with these results placing his game high atop the chart hill.

"We believe the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is the biggest entertainment launch of all time in any medium, and we achieved this record with sales from only two territories," said Kotick. "Other than Call of Duty, there has never been another entertainment franchise that has set opening day records three years in a row."

I love that Kotick compares COD to well-known series in other mediums. "Life-to-date sales for the Call of Duty franchise exceed worldwide theatrical box office for Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, two of the most successful entertainment franchises of all time," he said.

Are videogames bigger than movies? You bet your left tuchus [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/108929-Games-Officially-King-of-the-Entertainment-Sales-Hill], they are.

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zombie711

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Aug 17, 2009
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I dont hate call of duty. I just dont Like it. What I do hate is all this never ending talk about it. It feels by the time one call of duty stops making dlc, a new one comes out. Getting Tiresome
 

Giest4life

The Saucepan Man
Feb 13, 2010
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I was secretly hoping this wasn't going to be the case. Still, though, it seems like a dream when playing games was for the unfortunate few of society. Atleast CoD is pushing games mainstream.
 

Zhukov

The Laughing Arsehole
Dec 29, 2009
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Heh. So much for all those people who were saying, with totally straight faces I might add, that BF3 would outsell MW3.

Ah well. Clones ahoy!
 

Abedeus

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Sep 14, 2008
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But... why? Why do people keep buying the same game with slightly different setting and slight changes in multiplayer that in the old days would've been enough for a patch or expansion pack?

I just... don't get it..
 

Zachery Gaskins

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Mar 29, 2011
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The fact that the word "game" never leaves Kotick's lips in that soundbite should tell you everything you need to know about what drives that company.
 

OldKingClancy

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Jun 2, 2011
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Wow, how... expected.

For the record, I have nothing against Cod - I've played and enjoyed Modern Warfare 1 - but we all saw this coming right?
 

remnant_phoenix

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Apr 4, 2011
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Greg Tito said:
"We believe the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is the biggest entertainment launch of all time in any medium..."
Hey Kotick, are books not considered an entertainment medium? Because the final Harry Potter book sold 15 million copies in the first 24 hours. In case you can't do basic math, that's more than TWICE the number of copies your precious Call of Duty game moved.

Genius...
 

luckycharms8282

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Mar 28, 2009
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Wait...world at war and cod4 didnt didnt break any records? What is this blasphemy? I though both of those games sold extremely well. I guess not well enough to set records.
 

Lt. Vinciti

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Nov 5, 2009
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AWWWW SHIT

YOU JELLY BF BUYERS?

YOU MAD SKYRIM PLAYERS?!

Yeah....you are...

Wait....why is this shit news!
 

Gralian

Me, I'm Counting
Sep 24, 2008
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remnant_phoenix said:
Greg Tito said:
"We believe the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is the biggest entertainment launch of all time in any medium..."
Hey Kotick, are books not considered an entertainment medium? Because the final Harry Potter book sold 15 million copies in the first 24 hours. In case you can't do basic math, that's more than TWICE the number of copies your precious Call of Duty game moved.

Genius...
In terms of revenue though, it's not quite as impressive. I'm not sure how much Harry Potter would've been on release. £10-12 for paperback maybe? £20 for hardback? A new copy of CoD costs £45 on release. This means those 6.5 million units at £45 a pop is considerably more impressive than the 15 million units at £10-20 a pop. Just a thought.

I'll admit i didn't think MW3 would break Black Ops' own sales record, but these figures are impressive indeed. While it is worrying to see where this might lead the industry i also feel that it is the lesser of two evils as investors see that video games are a highly lucrative industry. If our medium is bringing in these kinds of staggering sales figures people are more likely to take it seriously than other forms of niche geek culture. We need to be part of the mainstream to survive - and we should embrace that - but at the same time make sure to support developers and publishers who look to work outside the mainstream and be progressive and remember the roots of video gaming.
 

Zachery Gaskins

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Mar 29, 2011
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In other news, McDonalds continues to sell millions of burgers while thousands enjoy their absolutely delicious steak dinner. Film at 11.
 

Flailing Escapist

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Apr 13, 2011
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Are video games bigger than movies?" ... No, they just cost a lot more.

Why are they comparing sales to movies in theatre? If they divided their sales by 4 maybe. Or if they included dvd sales as well.

What?
 

Adam Jensen_v1legacy

I never asked for this
Sep 8, 2011
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This is a phenomenon. It's a paradox! The game gets worse every year, yet the sales get better and better. Maybe if they make it into a 2d over the head 8-bit shooter next year, it will earn $5 billion.
 

Zachery Gaskins

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Mar 29, 2011
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Adam Jensen said:
This is a phenomenon. It's a paradox! The game gets worse every year, yet the sales get better and better. Maybe if they make it into a 2d over the head 8-bit shooter next year, it will earn $5 billions.
No, because then it would become retro hipster and be immediately adopted by the fringe, therefore the mainstream dudebro demographic would shun it.
 

JourneyThroughHell

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Sep 21, 2009
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Abedeus said:
But... why? Why do people keep buying the same game with slightly different setting and slight changes in multiplayer that in the old days would've been enough for a patch or expansion pack?

I just... don't get it..
It's because we need a messiah who will convey this extremely simple and true message to the thousands of deluded simple folk. Maybe you could be the one to save us all?

OT: Playing through that game a third time already and loving it. Jeez, it's almost like there's actually new stuff to enjoy here in every game mode or something.
 

draythefingerless

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Jul 10, 2010
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For some reason, i have this gut feeling this game is gonna be the peek of it...i just have this awry feeling, of the gaming community, that CoD has gone real stale and boring to play to everyone...i wouldnt be surprised if along this next year, player numbers went down really badly.