Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (MW2) blasted past US$300 million in sales on its opening day, the videogame’s publisher said on Thursday, blowing away even Hollywood films to become the highest-grossing entertainment launch ever.
MW2 sold 4.7 million copies and racked up US$310 million in sales in the US and Britain alone when the eagerly anticipated title from Infinity Ward studio made its worldwide debut on Tuesday, video game publisher Activision said.
The videogame bested Batman superhero film The Dark Knight, which holds the record for the top opening weekend ever by taking in US$158.4 million in July last year.
“The Call of Duty franchise has become a cultural phenomenon showing the power of videogames as an entertainment medium,” Activision chief executive Mike Griffith said. “The shattering of these entertainment records is a testament to the compelling, cinematic and uniquely engaging experience that the Call of Duty brand delivers.”
MW2 is the sixth title in a franchise that has won a devoted following since the first version was released in 2003.
Activision believes MW2 will be such a hit that the California-based company will see record operating margins. Pre-orders for the US$60 videogame were the highest in the firm’s history.
“If you only buy a single game this Hanukkah or Christmas, this is the title to beat,” said Scott Steinberg of videogame and gadget Web site Digital Trends. “It’s designed to be as much of a breathlessly cinematic experience as simple run-n-gun outing.”
Multiplayer options allow people to share consoles linked to the Internet to play together as characters in the videogame as an alternative to going solo.
Reviewers have praised MW2 for its game play and vivid graphics.
The game is rated for people aged 17 or older and MW2 has stirred a bit of controversy for depicting realistically brutal terrorist encounters.
Activision’s Infinity Ward studio in California tailored versions to Microsoft’s Xbox 360, Sony’s PlayStation 3 and personal computers.
MW2 picks up in the wake of its predecessor, which reportedly sold 12 million copies.
Players join a global military task force taking on ultranationalist Russian terrorists to save the world. Settings include Russia, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and Brazil.
The Call of Duty franchise boasts overall sales of about 28 million units.
Analysts expect MW2 to breathe new life into a videogame industry that has seen sales figures this year hobbled by dismal economic conditions and a dearth of hot releases.
“Based on everything I’m hearing so far, it’s nothing but good news for the industry,” NPD Group market analyst Anita Frazier said. “The combined launch of MW2 and New Super Mario Bros Wii should mean that November is a great month for the industry.”
US videogame sales tallied US$1.07 billion last month, a 19 percent drop from the 1.32 billion in sales logged during the same month last year, NPD said.
A Microsoft crackdown on Xbox 360 consoles modified to play pirated videogames stemmed, in part, from people playing illegal copies of MW2 prior to its release.
Microsoft declined to specify how many “modded Xbox” consoles were booted from the US technology giant’s Xbox Live network but reports have pegged the figure at more than half a million.
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