Modern Warfare 3 day 1 shipments "largest in history"

By Robert Purchese Published 9 November, 2011

And COD Elite "exceeds optimistic expectations".

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 day-one shipments are the largest for any game ever, Activision has said.

"The record number of pre-orders from Modern Warfare 3 drove the largest day-one shipments in our history, and in the industry's history," said Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg during an earnings call last night (transcript on Seeking Alpha).

Modern Warfare 3 launched worldwide yesterday, but no sales figures have yet been released.

Hirshberg said more than 1.5 million people queued at 13,000 shops at midnight on Monday to buy Modern Warfare 3, "making it the largest retail release in Activision's history and in the industry's history".

Major UK game outlets told Eurogamer earlier this week that Modern Warfare 3 had been their most pre-ordered title ever.

Popularity for Call of Duty has extended to multiplayer social network and stat-tracking application Call of Duty: Elite.

"We've already had an incredible response to Call of Duty: Elite from the moment it went live," said Hirshberg, who has nothing to do with Hershey's.

"Player registration requests for our new live services have exceeded even our most optimistic expectations, which have created some bottlenecks in the registration process.

"We've already registered over 1 million players, and we've been working round-the-clock to increase registration capacity as quickly as possible.

"Keep in mind," he added, "these issues have no impact on players' ability to play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3."

Eurogamer's Modern Warfare 3 review awarded 8/10.

"Its exuberant blend of testicular bravado and blockbuster gloss ensures that Call of Duty retains its crown as the shooter genre's biggest, boldest rollercoaster ride for at least one more year," wrote reviewer Dan Whitehead.

Call of Duty: Elite.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (60) Latest comment 7 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • X201 #1 7 months ago

    "exceeded even our most optimistic expectations," = We're rolling in it :)

  • jonfon #2 7 months ago

    Is there a new Call of Duty out then?

  • DonnieDarko333 #3 7 months ago

    I have nothing against COD..but i find this rather unfair to the games which put so much effort in but struggle to get this status! Uncharted 3 deserves this success for example!

  • Cobalt_Jackal #4 7 months ago

    Sales does NOT equal quality. Just because something sales a fuck ton of copies that doesn't mean its good (also you have to consider the fact that large segments of the general public are idiots... are mindless sheep with a herd mentality). Quality>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Sales/Popularity.
    Edited by Cobalt_Jackal at 09/11/11 @ 11:43

  • J0rdan_KZ #5 7 months ago

    So we can look forward to another year of shitty Youtube videos of people commenting on their own kill streaks? Joy oh joy.

    Games like Call of Duty is the reason why we don't have nice things like Shenmue 3 and another Jet Set Radio... ¬_¬

  • telboy007 #6 7 months ago

    COD Elite exceeds my expectations, it hasn't worked for me yet.

  • StuDevo #7 7 months ago

    Its a shame the people are paying Activision for the same game every year (basically stopping innovation) and with Elite being popular, it can only get worse.

  • MattEdWithCheese #8 7 months ago

    @jonfon nah they're doing the japanese thing of quitting while they're ahead :D Of Course!!

  • RealoFoxtrot #9 7 months ago

    Sorry, i am still rolling about Laughing at the Meta Critic User scores.

    Critics average out at around 9

    User scores:
    Xbox = 2.6
    PC = 1.4

  • Pwnsweet #10 7 months ago

    The Wii version is...abysmal

  • Sodding_Gamer #11 7 months ago

    @Pwnsweet

    Not only did you buy the game, you got it for wii?!

    You sire are going to hell!

  • Pwnsweet #12 7 months ago

    Call of Duty Elite exceeded my expectations too - it works.

  • Whatascoop #13 7 months ago

    Wonder if you can still play the 'Oscar Mike' drinking game without getting faced on the first level. Because real soldiers say that, so it's really realistic to mention it every 2.3 seconds after Russia invades the USA via sneak attack.

  • telboy007 #14 7 months ago

    @Pwnsweet How come you are worthy and I'm not! :(

  • DozyKipper #15 7 months ago

    Who are all these people buying this game? is it their only purchase of the year? Why does this tripe sell so many units?

  • CaptainKid #16 7 months ago

    I still am baffled why a 7 hour singleplayer with no innovation at all (although it is fun) and a very oldskool (basically Counterstrike) multiplayer game is so fricking popular.
    If the multiplayer is so good why do these people buy a new iteration every damn year?? Plus paying for map packs in between!?

  • Paul_cz #17 7 months ago

    I seriously do not understand why is THIS game the one most commercially succesful..I mean, what do people see in it? Why so many? It boggles my mind.

  • Dizzy #18 7 months ago

    @CaptainKid "very oldskool (basically Counterstrike) multiplayer game is so fricking popular."

    TBH there is a reason why Counterstrike was so popular.

    Anyway.. I am not one of the COD players, I prefer the much better multiplayer of Halo ;)

  • AnotherIdiot #19 7 months ago

    Post deleted at 09:51:31 12-12-2011

  • Macross #20 7 months ago

    Captain, same reason why people who owned the iPhone 4 bought the iPhone 4s I guess.

  • mortiz666 #21 7 months ago

    @RealoFoxtrot I'd take Metacritic user ratings with a rather massive mound of salt, remember when Portal 2 came out the the user rating was around 2 or 3?

  • arcam #22 7 months ago

    Popularity comes from a mix of a deeply established series with history, a 60 FPS framerate and solid engine which makes it feel good and responsive, a huge amount of money backing the series in playtesting and marketing, and a simple, satisfying multiplayer. Plus of course the phenomenon that as something gets more popular, it becomes more attractive, and becomes a self-sustaining cycle. IMO anyway.

  • carlosofsmeg #23 7 months ago

    The fact is has sold more than any game before people have even played it shows how powerful the brand has become.

    With brands like COD and FIFA gaining customer loyalty no matter what is shipped, i wonder what developers who make truly great, innovate games will have to do to even compete with these guys. Kinda sad in a way.

  • mcreddie #24 7 months ago

    For anyone dissing COD and wondering why it's the most bought game on the planet, there are obvious reasons why it is so popular;

    No waiting around ages for a match, unlike Gears and Halo.
    All the players don't immediately disappear once a match is over, again, unlike Gears and Halo.
    60fps with great graphics (VSYNCED) and barely any glitches (realistically compared with most other modern day games).
    Levelling is faster and rewards come quicker than most other online shooters.
    The menu system is taken for granted as it's very intuitive, so you can easily invite friends to games, find appropriate matches etc
    Takes alot less to kill someone in game, making it accessible for newcomers
    It's responsive, fast paced and most importantly - FUN.

    Note: COD Elite isn't working at all for me. Anyone else experiencing a shite service?
    Edited by mcreddie at 09/11/11 @ 12:34

  • sajtion #25 7 months ago

    oh joy anoother sequel of the same game from last year and years before that. i'm sorry but i just can't get exicted
    Edited by sajtion at 09/11/11 @ 12:20

  • CaptainKid #26 7 months ago

    @Macross
    Good comparison. I also don't understand that.
    It's the same phone but better battery and camera!

  • Jacksie66 #27 7 months ago

    @Moritz666

    Typical of Metacritic isnt it, a big release game and the inevitable sea of trolls...

  • mrlaurentisdead #28 7 months ago

    @mcreddie "Takes alot less to kill someone in game, making it accessible for newcomers" - there is a flipside to this which tells the opposite story.

    That's one of the biggest reasons why I never get into CoD or CodMeToo!s like BF3, Homefront, MoH, all the games, etc. I prefer the old-fashioned games where if sometime attacks you, you have a chance to defend yourself and fight back. Better stories are told that way IMO.

    Not a criticism of the way the game plays - it does what it does, that's fine - but a personal preference of game style, and a big reason why a lot of new players get turned off.

  • MattRobson #29 7 months ago

    I dont understand brand loyalty... never will.

  • Matfink #30 7 months ago

    @mcreddie "...with great graphics..."

    Surely a jest?!

  • th3duckst3r #31 7 months ago

    two words,
    dedicated severs..............

  • jetsetwillie #32 7 months ago

    @Macross you mean because there both great products that people love in spite of the weirdo's on the internet that get upset about what other people are buying or playing and feel they have to express there hate on EVERY SINGLE forum thread on the internet.

  • arcam #33 7 months ago

    When compared to the iPhone 4, the iPhone 4s has some significant improvements under the hood but on the surface appears to be the same. This is almost the exact opposite of MW3 compared to MW2.

  • benjerry #34 7 months ago

    @MattRobson

    Re: Brand loyalty.

    People have a good experience with a product and use that experience to make future purchasing decisions? Seems pretty logical to me.

  • benjerry #35 7 months ago

    @CaptainKid They fused Counterstrike (a game still widely played) with WoW (bar filling / progression). That it got popular isn´t hard to understand. A bit like mixing ice cream and cooking dough come to think of it...

  • benjerry #36 7 months ago

    @carlosofsmeg

    The notion that games have to be "innovative" in order to be "truly great" has to die. Most "innovative" (I.e. previously untried) ideas will turn out to be crap (I.e. there was a reason for them not being used previously).

  • benjerry #37 7 months ago

    @mrlaurentisdead Calling BF3 a "GodMeToo" is besides the point, and an artefact of the EA anti-CoD marketing and the tacked-on-CoD multiplayer campaign. It´s a very different game when you get down to the meat (I.e. MP), for better and worse.

  • Subdominator #38 7 months ago

    @DonnieDarko333 U3 is one of those games that do exactly the same thing as CoD, always the same gameplay with new graphics. If you want games that show effort to rise to the top, U3 is not one of them. There is no evolution, it's just more of the same. Of course that works for CoD, so it should work for U3 as well. Personally I'd love for CoD, U3 or GoW 3 to go down. Sometimes people realize when they are being milked, see Resistance 3 (which strangely enough is a better game than Resistance 2) or Killzone 3. Microsoft managed to sell pretty much the same game once with Forza Motorsport and Forza 2 and now does it again with Forza 3 and Forza 4. And people go crazy for f'ing remakes like Halo 1, Ico, Zelda. Just means one thing: Consumers are dumb.

    Well, that's not exactly news. After all we complain about prices for movie tickets being too high and at the same time buy games, that are becoming more and more like movies, that are three times as long as a movie for five times the price of a movie ticket. And are happy that we get QTEs and interactive cutscenes. Crazy!

  • benjerry #39 7 months ago

    @Subdominator "And people go crazy for f'ing remakes like Halo 1, Ico, Zelda. Just means one thing: Consumers are dumb."

    No, it means that consumers have smaller preference for "innovation" than the more jaded posters on message boards.

  • jetsetwillie #40 7 months ago

    @Subdominator you sound like a pretty hateful kind of guy. what do you like to play then. what elevates you above the 'dumb' people

  • asho #41 7 months ago

    Amazing game and simply the best ever FPS out. Simply stunning in all areas.

  • spidermanalf #42 7 months ago

    I have it, and am enjoying it, but will play the single player and then trade it in next week for Assassins Creed.

    It's not the BEST game in the world, but it's OK, and the veteran difficulty is pretty easy, but I know people that buy these games and only these games and play them online all year. One of them has had Black Ops since day one, and has not even touched the campaign mode! Crazy.

    But people like this have been discussed before, I think we ended up calling the people that did this were called Dave!

    As far as the Elite thing goes, I am sure people will join, as their Kill Death quota is very important to them, and they love to know exactly how they are doing, but for me you need

    a. A lot of friends who you can play regularly with
    b. Time.

    And as I am of an age where time is at a premium due to work and homelife, and most of my friends are the same, I want a quality gaming experience and not be yelled at all the time, and my sexuality being brought into question every 2 minutes by 12 year olds. Like someone said yesterday, this is a real 'chav' game, which maybe a bit 'elitist', scuse the pun, but it really is. HOWEVER it has also introduced a lot of people to our hobby, and online gaming.

    Sorry about going off on a mini rant there!

  • TheBusterMan #43 7 months ago

    Am I the only one sick of the BNP clan tag chav twats online?

  • UnblestCarpet #44 7 months ago

    I've played the last 3 games in the franchise and have decided to give this one a miss. I resent potentially paying £100 with dlc's for rehashed content. Why resell the same zombie maps when you already own them. Yeah it's fun but I'm going to try new things this year.
    They should earn continued loyalty, something which they seem to be losing.
    Edited by UnblestCarpet at 09/11/11 @ 15:49

  • onyxbox #45 7 months ago

    Is this game out on PS3 yet?

    I can't seem to find any mention or media or reviews on the PS3 version... did Microsoft censor every UK & US gaming site out there or something?

    (Same thing seems to be happening with Skyrim)

    :|

  • GarethBale3 #46 7 months ago

    in other news X factor get's record viewings...


    10 days until SS so hopefully still plenty of time for me to 100% AC beforehand. I hope Link has plenty of gadgets as Bats left me spoilt for choice.

  • Ramboness #47 7 months ago

    I made a deal with myself that I would never buy any Call of Duty title again after mw2, that't the reason why I never picked up BO and this.


    It's a disgrace to the gaming industry.

  • arcam #48 7 months ago

    I think this is the last Modern Warfare.

    Not really interested in this game (apart from Spec Ops!), but I will be interested to see where they take the game in the next couple of years. One more from Treyarch (Black Ops 2?), and then I think we're on to CoD on a new console in a new setting. That will help refresh the series.

  • superted1974 #49 7 months ago

    @arcam

    I bet good money it won't be the last Modern Warfare. Biggest game in history - they aren't going to kill that cash cow now.

  • coolbritannia #50 7 months ago

    Why is this great game a disgrace to the industry?

  • arcam #51 7 months ago

    @superted1974 I bet good money it won't be

    Is that just a figure of speech? Because I'd bet good money it is the last one... ;)

    The success of Black Ops showed 'Call of Duty' is the real brand, not 'Modern Warfare'.

  • MaybeLater #52 7 months ago

    Teenagers have a lot of liquid funds and COD's marketing and game style lend themselves well to a peer orientated culture (ie if you're the only kid at school without it you're going to get picked on).

    It's divisive in industry terms because 'the suits' become obsessed with cashing in on that market which can come at the expense of creativity and invention.

    None of that takes away from the fact it is both a well crafted game and a phenomenal product. The reprehensible culture of juvenile bad manners which it fosters is indicative of bad parenting and the fact that some people are just dick-heads. Free markets, freedom of speech and freedom to bring you kids up with very little effort or responsibility all come at a price.

  • telboy007 #53 7 months ago

    COD Elite still thinks I've not played any multiplayer games online yet, I mean the game is blink and you miss it quick but this is getting silly.

  • TazerFan #54 7 months ago

    People like the game because it's fun. The level-up experience in multiplayer is absurdly addicting. Amazing that so many millions of people are apparently having the wrong kind of fun!

    Crying about a successful videogame certainly makes you all come off as well-adjusted, happy people.

  • mrblonde #55 7 months ago

    Weird how COD4 modern warfare was the second coming ,"its ghille suit level" was often brought up as one the best examples of a fps level, yet every one after (since it exploded in popularity) has been slagged off, as being fit for only brainless sheep.
    Anything popular gets slated in the EG comments section, even if its consistently the best franchise this gen.

    These "navel gazers" love boring shite like heavy rain,SO TCC, ICO, oblivion and the absolutely terrible, bug ridden fallout titles(cos they have great stories,hmmmm).

    Even gems like bioshock, GTA4 get slagged off in hindsight. Remember ITS COOL TO BE DIFFERENT!!!!
    Edited by mrblonde at 09/11/11 @ 21:37

  • Climhazzard #56 7 months ago

    @Dizzy Halo - now that is a game that requires some skill and know how! Can't wait to play Anniversary :D

  • Quixz #57 7 months ago

    The ever "reliable" VGchartz are reporting 9.3 million, 5 million 360, 4 million Ps3 and wii/PC 300 thousand..

  • benjerry #58 7 months ago

    @mrblonde Hey now, don´t lump me (I love Fallout*!) in with da CoD haters. (I really like CoD too)...


    *Despite the crippling bugs in the PS3 Collector´s Edition of FO3. What´s a few console reboots every now and then between friends?

  • benjerry #59 7 months ago

    @Quixz Hehe, gotta love VGChartz... What´s really funny is that they use decimal points...

  • cyber_nicco #60 7 months ago

    With all the trolls around here, I must be under a bridge...

    Get over it people, COD games are well-made and fun. True, they don't tend to be overly innovative, but football is the same game year after year and it doesn't stop you from watching it.

    p.s. Don't own MW3 yet, so my comments are about the series, not this game. I suspect almost all the negative comments here are about the series, not the game, as well.