"Call of Duty: Black Ops II," the latest entry in the popular video game franchise, reached an estimated sell-through of more than $500 million worldwide in the first 24 hours of its release, Activision announced.
The massive sales figures make "Black Ops 2" the biggest launch in the entertainment industry so far this year. "With first day sales of over half a billion dollars worldwide, we believe Call of Duty is the biggest entertainment launch of the year for the fourth year in a row," said Bobby Kotick, CEO, Activision Blizzard.
Written by David S. Goyer, the latest version of the game surpassed the record collections of $220 million that Microsoft's Halo 4 made in its first 24 hours and of last year's "Modern Warfare 3" which earned around $400 million during its first day on sale. "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. Given the challenged macro-economic environment, we remain cautious about the balance of 2012 and 2013," Kotick said.
The game features performance captures from Michael Keaton, Rich McDonald, Sam Worthington and Tony Todd. Millions of fans attended the lunch on Nov. 13 in more than 16,000 midnight openings at retail stores worldwide including actor James C. Burns attending the Los Angeles event and Michael Rooker at the Amsterdam premiere.
Call of Duty: Black Ops II, also launched for PCs, is available le in three different variations for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It will be made available for the Nintendo Wii U launch on November 18.
