Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 biggest entertainment launch ever

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 11 November, 2011

Life-to-date COD sales beat Star Wars, Lord of the Rings box office.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has set the record for the biggest entertainment launch ever, Activision has announced.

It generated an eye-watering $400 million in the US and UK alone. It sold more than 6.5 million units in the US and UK in the first 24 hours of release, according to Chart-Track and retail customer sell-through information.

Modern Warfare 3 beats Call of Duty: Black Ops' record, set this time last year. Black Ops had estimated day one sell through of $360 million. 2009's Modern Warfare 2 had a sell through of $310 million.

According to Microsoft, after just two days, the number of gamers playing simultaneously on Xbox Live set a new peak concurrency record.

"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," Bobby Kotick, Activision Blizzard CEO said.

"Other than Call of Duty, there has never been another entertainment franchise that has set opening day records three years in a row. 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."

Eric Hirshberg, Activision Publishing boss, added: "Call of of Duty is more than a game. It's become a major part of the pop cultural landscape. It is a game that core enthusiasts love, but that also consistently draws new people into the medium. It is the most intense, adrenaline pumping entertainment experience anywhere.

"I would like to thank our incredible teams at Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games for making a brilliant game. But most of all, I would like to thank our millions of passionate fans worldwide. We made this game for you."

Meanwhile, Activision has announced it has donated $3 million to the Call of Duty Endowment, a non-profit, public benefit corporation that seeks to provide job placement and training for veterans.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (57) Latest comment 6 months ago

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  • gribb #1 7 months ago

    Let the casual gamer bashing begin!

  • benjerry #2 7 months ago

    Just as predicted, CoD fatigue is setting in just like with Guitar Hero.

    I wonder if Activision will even bother making another CoD now that the mouth breathing yokel casuals have moved on to some other inane pursuit. I´m happy that I don´t know any CoD players any more, even if I had to disavow four friends to get there. Leaves more time for Dark Souls and (insert current indie favourite here).

  • mrblonde #3 7 months ago

    Anyone know how much it costs to develop a call of duty game these days cheap i guess?, imagine marketing is obviously the biggest cost?

  • Jacksie66 #4 7 months ago

    400 million!

    Sweet zombie jesus...
    I spent my money on beer instead...

  • Daeltaja #5 7 months ago

    Crazy. Expected, but crazy. I wonder how many sales it would have done minus all the chavs. (No seriously, in my retail chain, the stores in the chav areas did insane unit numbers compared to the non-chav areas.

    Either way, the quality and improvements just aren't compared to current industry standards and will likely cause fatigue and dwindling sales for the next iteration.

    For the few COD players I've talked to in work, who avidly played BLOPS/MW2, they actually aren't pushed about this years one, "too similar, crap maps" is what I've been hearing.

    Now, back to a real game, SKYRIM!

  • A_Nonny #6 7 months ago

    And yet people don't take gaming seriously. What does it have to do get accepted by the general public as a legitimate entertainment medium and not just a toy for kids?

  • aidey6 #7 7 months ago

    That's rather decent of Activision to donate, although the cynic in me sees this being done for tax reasons.

    As for the costs of developing http://www.industrygamers.com/news/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-2s-launch-budget--200-million/ if those figures are accurate, but the return plus DLC.....

  • Sodding_Gamer #8 7 months ago

    @Daeltaja

    Crap maps indeed. Half of them ripped straight out of MW1 and 2 with a few changes. Highrise, crash, overgrown, quarry. All maps that have been changed a little and put into mw3. Shocker!

  • AndyBeans #9 7 months ago

    Yadda yadda yadda. It's fun to play, quite smooth, no shitty zombies and not too many matchmaking problems. Therefore I like it and don't care about sales.

  • benjerry #10 7 months ago

    @Sodding_Gamer "@Daeltaja

    Crap maps indeed. Half of them ripped straight out of MW1 and 2 with a few changes. Highrise, crash, overgrown, quarry. All maps that have been changed a little and put into mw3. Shocker! "

    I am sorry sir, but are you on crack?

  • CaptainKid #11 7 months ago

    "It sold more than 6.5 million units in the US and UK in the first 24 hours of release."

    A normal AA game sells perhaps 2 million in total. Worldwide across platforms.
    Plus all the map packs they sell, no wonder Activision-Blizzard is the biggest publisher. Plus they have the behemoth Wow.

  • benjerry #12 7 months ago

    "That's rather decent of Activision to donate, although the cynic in me sees this being done for tax reasons."

    I would reckon a big chunk of that are the proceeds from CoD XP, their Blizzcon equivalent. They promised to donate the entrance fees to charity...

  • mukki #13 7 months ago

    As expected...
    and somewhat depressing
    but hey I bought it too!
    Edited by mukki at 11/11/11 @ 15:18

  • bobfish09 #14 7 months ago

    So... life to date sales of COD franchise is more than SW or LOTR did in the box office.

    But SW and LOTR did more than COD when DVD, BluRay, Games, Merchandise, Re-Releases and non-English releases are included in their figures.

    Nice spin Activision.

  • Sodding_Gamer #15 7 months ago

    @benjerry

    Sorry sir, but pull the wool off you eyes and you will see. The map layout is absolutely terrible. One of the maps has a helicopter in the middle and has the same sort of layout as crash. I didn't mean they were literally ripped out of MW1 and changed a bit. I mean they had no inspiration and took the ideas and changed them a little. The only decent maps are the ones that look like these. The rest are awful!

  • benjerry #16 7 months ago

    @Sodding_Gamer I´m curious, which map is even a tad like highrise? (No, Hardhat is *nothing* like Highrise)

    Which one is even slightly similar to Overgrown?

    Which one is similar to Crash?

    Indeed, the complaint that some people have about the maps is that they are *not* similar enough to the maps of previous CoD:s, with too many paths leading around the map.

  • DirectAim #17 7 months ago

    I played COD:MW3 for 1 hour on the day of release and haven't touched it since. I prefer BF3 as I feel it plays better and the visuals are stunning.

    That being said I can't beleive how popular COD still is, its the biggest media release ever, congrats to the guys and fair play, they deserve it I suppose!

  • benjerry #18 7 months ago

    @DirectAim One reason is that aiming is completely wonky in BF3 (on PS3). Until DICE gets the basics right on console (PC has never been a problem), they won´t really be able to compete.

  • AndyBeans #19 7 months ago

    @Sodding_Gamer I hear you mate, good one. You would have thought they'd have used a crashed magic carpet instead, eh? And they put buildings on the maps too, just like the last two games, and the player models STILL have two legs and use GUNS ffs!

  • Desheep #20 7 months ago

    Fuck you, Bobby Kotick!

  • chris_ace #21 7 months ago

    Post deleted at 11:55:13 13-12-2011

  • benjerry #22 7 months ago

    @Desheep You are a parody of your kind. Thank you for making my day a little bit brighter.

  • Cobalt_Jackal #23 7 months ago

    How I feel about this news

    Seriously though it just goes to show how many people are sheep. Mindless sheep... absolute gullable idiots who will buy anything there told too. There easily swept in the hype/marketing and because their sheep with a herd mentality, they continuelly buy the same frivolous shit every year. And the sad thing is, is that theese type of people (sheeple) infest this capitalistic, consumerist society of ours. -_-
    Edited by Cobalt_Jackal at 11/11/11 @ 14:52

  • gani.slimshady #24 7 months ago

    SKYRIM!!!:)

  • uglygamer #25 7 months ago

    This is the first CoD where Ive enjoyed the SP campaign more than the MP. The maps are awful

  • benjerry #26 7 months ago

    @Cobalt_Jackal Another keeper. Although you stop short of actually advocating the extermination of the "mindless", "gullable idiot"(sic) "sheep" who "infest" our society. I´m sure that you will rectify that oversight shortly.

  • Cheeseasaurus #27 7 months ago

    Someone bought a COD game.

    Hold the fucking presses.

  • jon1138 #28 7 months ago

    a game costs 70€, a cinema ticket 8€...

    so it's easy to earn $400 million when the consumer has to spend 70€...

  • Cjail #29 7 months ago

    The more they sell, the less they innovate: this is COD legacy to the entertainment industry.
    Edited by Cjail at 11/11/11 @ 18:24

  • GingerNathan #30 7 months ago

    The best selling flavour of ice cream in the world is vanilla, read what you want into that.

  • rob_of_the_robots #31 7 months ago

    "It is the most intense, adrenaline pumping entertainment experience anywhere."

    Err, no.

  • j2bullard #32 7 months ago

    Eurogamer, please don't compare the uninspired drivel that is the annual Call of Duty release to 3 of the greatest films ever released (LotR, not the new Star Wars). I don't even see why you bothered to compare, just look at the difference in price between a cinema ticket and a game.

  • ShortRound77 #33 7 months ago

    @jon1138 Actually it's a lot harder to make people spend 70 instead of 8... I guess they made a game a lot of people want. A LOT of people...
    Me? I like Pac-Man.

  • Yeoung #34 7 months ago

    Validation for some, bashfodder for others. All I hope is that they put the obviously talented dev team to work on new IPs outside of the FPS genre.

    Wishful thinking, I know..

  • HAL9000 #35 7 months ago

    "...Biggest Entertainment Launch Ever!" scream next year's headlines!

  • Raiten #36 7 months ago

    Not like it's a huge suprise it generated so far more and more money with each new CoD, considering the price has been going up for each game. I mean, seriously even on steam MW3 is sold for 60€.. for a pc game? you'd have to be absolutely out of your mind to pay that much, and aparantly people do pay that much and even more on consoles.

    It'd be a case of, people have more money than sense.

  • wattsn26 #37 7 months ago

    Are these shipped or sold numbers Eurogamer?...:rolleyes:

  • SEVQA #38 7 months ago

    I queued up at Tesco with at least a 100 people of which 97 where clearly underage to be sold an 18 rated game!

  • Bennyjj81 #39 7 months ago

    I enjoy Battlefield but don't hate CoD. Please help, reading all the comments on CoD stories on EG would suggest theres something wrong with me. . . .
    Edited by Bennyjj81 at 11/11/11 @ 16:04

  • f0nZ #40 7 months ago

    Battlefield 3, feels bad bro.

  • xmifi #41 7 months ago

    I envy Activision. They acually managed to fool people with a copy and paste game. And people are buying like crazy. And they say people are smart.

  • Afro_Matt #42 7 months ago

    @bobfish09 it's talking about the biggest entertainment LAUNCH ever, not total profit from the franchise besides if were to include the whole COD franchise im sure that Activision would have gotten more than SW or LOTR

  • ThePissartist #43 7 months ago

    I'd like to know the split between the US and the UK.

    Gotta wait till Xmas before I can play, it's a gift from the wife. :(

  • hiddenranbir #44 7 months ago

    But...EA said...all that trash talk...egg on their face?

  • Bonders99 #45 7 months ago

    and how many of those 6.5 million players are under 18 ?
    Activision jolly well know that they do make up a significant proportion of their user base, yet when asked in serious discussions they spout the holier than though attitude of how deeply they take their social responsibility. Yeah right...Money talks and bullshit walks in Bobby's world.

  • Mono_X #46 7 months ago

    Is that shipped or sold?

    We needs to know!

  • NHDavid #47 7 months ago

    Didn't buy it ...never will:)

  • Captain_Jono #48 7 months ago

    I hate to be a party pooper, but comparing video game units sold to box office figures is an apples to oranges comparison!

    After box office, movies continue to make money from rentals, from pay-per-view, DVD, two rounds of television rights, Netflix, and more franchise-licensing you can shake a stick at. For a video game, all you have is the sales, the majority of which take place over a single year. Occasionally the largest IPs can draw on a degree of franchising, and of course we have DLC now. But the vast majority of video game revenue comes from individual sales in a box.

    In other words, we are comparing the *entirety* of video games sales to about 30% (at a very generous estimate) of movie revenue.

    Come back when Modern Warfare murders DVD sales. Then we can talk!

  • bladdard #49 7 months ago

    @NHDavid

    +1

    I bought modern warfare and couldn't see what all the fuss was about, I guess I'm in the minority.

  • mrblonde #50 7 months ago

    Good point above about CODS UNDER 18 sales, must be 50% or more. But videogames are vastly overrated when compared to movie ratings, cod should be a 12 imo.Dont think ive yet played a "true" 18 rated videogame yet.(compared to film)

  • whatfruit #51 7 months ago

    Kottick must have sacrificed alot of kids.

  • danger.to.others #52 6 months ago

    They made 400 million in only a couple weeks and they can only spare 3 million for their charity to help vets?
    3 million is better than not getting 3 million, but still....giving that little of the profit and announcing you gave it smells more like doing it to look good to others, rather than giving what you can to sincerely help.
    I guess it should look that way, since that's what it is.
    Even 20 million with the amount they made wouldn't hurt their profit magin in the slightest and could do all the more good.

  • secombe #53 6 months ago

    Considering financial comparisons are utterly irrelevent (due to both inflation and the pointlessness of comparing box office to video games) I would be more interested to know how they compare in physical numbers of human beings buying a ticket/game.

  • Inmediasress #54 6 months ago

    What a shame.
    Well guess people... ah nevermind.

  • Trigg3rHippie #55 6 months ago

    Yeah, whatever...

  • DRUNK3N-_-DRAGON #56 6 months ago

    CALL OF DUTY:MODERN WARFARE 3 BIGGEST FUKN LETDOWN EVER!!! morelike...

  • stryker1121 #57 6 months ago

    So this means Acti has reached its pinnacle and will realize it simply cannot top what they've done here, and will shuttle their massive resources into brand new IP that will no longer negatively impact the industry! That's where I see this going, people! Either jump on the train or be stuck at the station!
    Edited by stryker1121 at 13/11/11 @ 22:50