Activision: MW3 made $1bn a day quicker than Avatar

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 12 December, 2011

Call of Duty community hits 30 million.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 passed the $1 billion sales mark in 16 days - a day quicker than 2009 blockbuster movie Avatar - Activision has said.

Activision's figures are based on Chart-Track and retail customer sell-through information.

The company said the milestone highlights "the trend of interactive entertainment gaining a greater hold of audiences worldwide". It pointed to the four per cent decline box office revenue suffered in 2011 versus 2010, compared with "the number of people purchasing and participating in gaming," which "is on the rise, with no sign of slowing".

The Call of Duty community is made up of over 30 million gamers, which Activision pointed out exceeds the combined populations of the cities of New York, London, Tokyo, Paris and Madrid.

It said the franchise is now among a group of sustained franchises like Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and the NFL "that attract or engage tens of millions of people every year or every new release".

"Engagement of our Call of Duty audience continues to rise around the world," Activision Blizzard boss Bobby Kotick said.

"Call of Duty as an entertainment franchise has made an indelible mark on popular culture and its broad and continued success is further validation that audiences increasingly value interactive experiences over passive experiences."

Over six million have registered with stat tracking and social platform Call of Duty Elite. Over one million premium subscriptions have been sold since launch.

"Call of Duty has become that rare entertainment franchise that transcends its own genre," Activision Publishing boss Eric Hirshberg added. "Core gamers love it, as our stellar reviews show. But every year, new people are drawn into Call of Duty.

"And while the franchise continues to set records, our fans still seem to want more, demonstrated by our record setting start on Call of Duty Elite. We are committed to helping everyone connect, compete and improve their game, Call of Duty style."

Last month Eurogamer spoke with Stephen Cheliotis, chief executive of The Centre for Brand Analysis and chairman of the UK Superbrands and CoolBrands Councils, who said brand Call of Duty cannot compete with the biggest brands in film because most people think games in the same genre all look the same.

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 (26) Latest comment 5 months ago

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

  • streetmagix #1 5 months ago

    Slightly unfair comparison, a cinema ticket is ~Ģ10. MW3 RRP was Ģ55.

  • Alf-Life #2 5 months ago

    Yep, exactly. Pretty cool, but don't forget the number of people is probably 5-6 times lower.

  • CaptainTrips #3 5 months ago

    Streetmaqix beat me to it - what a ridiculous comparison...

  • penfold_007 #4 5 months ago

    So even if you ignore all the extra money from the special editions and assume everyone shopped online and paid no more than 40 for MW3 and then assume that everyone paid 10 to see avatar activision are basically saying avatar is 4 times more popular than call of duty. James Cameron will be pleased...

  • Kalime #5 5 months ago

    There are as many ways to assess success as there are competitors. At the end of the day what matters is profit. Not "units sold", nor revenue...

  • geeza2020 #6 5 months ago

    Oh, just die already

  • 32768Colours #7 5 months ago

    Must we keep seeing these utterly ridiculous statistics paraded as news? Let's be honest, you could twist the numbers anyway you like to fit the story you want to tell. For Activision, the twist is obviously going to be aimed at hyping up MW3.

    These "facts" are little more than free advertising for the Publisher. There's no news here at all!

  • homerramone #8 5 months ago

    The company said the milestone highlights "the trend of interactive entertainment gaining a greater hold of audiences worldwide".
    Does it bollocks. It highlights the fact that they spent a shit load more on marketing than development.

  • paulf #9 5 months ago

    imagine how much it would have made if it was in glorious stereoscopic 3d

  • Lexx87 #10 5 months ago

    It's reporting a statement from activision, it's what they are supposed to do. We can make our own judgement, EG are just reporting what they hear.

    Don't bloody read it if you arn't interested!

  • dirtysteve #11 5 months ago

    Don't think the company cares as much about the numbers of people, they're clearly blinded by the cash machine.

  • Street89 #12 5 months ago

    @streetmagix Totally agree, never understood why these sort of things are even mentioned or why the articles never mention that of course this is going to happen if MW3 is Ģ40+.
    An interesting comparison would be if more people bought MW3 than the number that went to see Avatar.

  • zegerman1942 #13 5 months ago

    aye streetmagix was in first and spot on. this constant comparisson to the film industry is just ridiculous. it's not just money earned, games often try to emulate films for the wrong reason. i think the games industry is now old enough to define it's own space without constantly having look at the film industry to beg borry and steal and then compare dick size with.

  • miiiguel #14 5 months ago

    Don't understand the attacks on MW franchise, if not for anything else it's still pushing the industry to mainstream high-profile, big investment direction, instead of the new mobile trnd of Angry Birds crap clones.

    Also, the numbers talk about sales, so it is sales, not how many people. It's funny when someone want disagree with some numbers they start saying: "they should consider other stuff that", kinda like "company X sold Y number consoles, but that doesn't matter because I know a dude who bought 16".

    Disclaimer: I couldn't care less about MW as a game, I don't have it and I wont buy it, same shit about Avatar wasn't interested in watching it, but guess what I went it anyway since the ticket was not that expensive and it was a rainy day.

  • Jacksie66 #15 5 months ago

    I just spent my money on Whiskey and beer. Much better value me thinks...

  • Totza #16 5 months ago

    Why do you keep posting these pointless articles about COD and sales, COD could have 2 billion sales, doesn't mean shit, the game is garbage.

  • benjerry #17 5 months ago

    "Slightly unfair comparison, a cinema ticket is ~Ģ10. MW3 RRP was Ģ55. "

    Why is it "unfair"? Needless to say, itīs easier to sell a 10 pound product than a 55 pound one. Which makes the total gross kind of interesting.

    Finally kicked my MW3 addiction though in favor of Dark Souls. Nice change of pace.

  • DRUNK3N-_-DRAGON #18 5 months ago

    and what a load of fuckin shite it turned out to be!

  • Desheep #19 5 months ago

    Classic Wesley Yin-Poole.

  • Nova1977 #20 5 months ago

    Yes Activision that's all you ever talk about, how much money you're making.

  • gribb #21 5 months ago

    Thanks for writing this Wesley as it's actually really interesting - not sure why exactly so many people are arguing about news being reported as news... I suppose if it was any publisher but Activision it would be a different story.

    Every gamer should celebrate this news as it shows our medium has now become a mainstream pursuit, which results in more money for the industry, more jobs and best of all more games!

  • inutaihanyou #22 5 months ago

    Movie tickets are 10 bucks, games are 60 bucks(64 with tax)...i may be missing something here, but is it that big a milestone?
    Edited by inutaihanyou at 12/12/11 @ 17:05

  • dennett316 #23 5 months ago

    A more interesting way to compare it would be hours spent with the product in question. Even if you just play the campaign you get 5 hours out of the game compared to Avatars 2.5, but add multiplayer into the equation and it gets a lot more interesting.

    In terms of audience, Avatar is more successful. In terms of money made it's the same, but in terms of value for money, I'd argue that MW3 has Avatar beaten easily.

    Oh, and in terms of profit I'd argue that CoD is ahead as well considering the cost of Avatar to make and film. Both have a big marketing budget, but CoD cost it's parent company FAR less to make. Then again, would the DVD/Blu Ray/Digital Download market for Avatar make up that shortfall?
    Hmm, at the end of the day it's all just corporate willy waving, so who really gives a shit other than stockholders?
    Edited by dennett316 at 12/12/11 @ 23:34

  • outy #24 5 months ago

    MW3 is excellent value if you're the type to waste your life unproductively grinding it day in day out.

  • Freek #25 5 months ago

    When ever they throw around these numbers it isn't about how much profit they made, it's boasting about how culturally relevent they are. "We made more money then star wars/avatar/insert pop culture refrence point here".
    Wich is simply not the case due to the, repeatatly mention, price difference in the products.
    More people go to see movies then play games, that might change, but it hasn't happend yet.

  • benjerry #26 5 months ago

    @outy The point of CoD is getting XP bars going up *without* the WoW-ish feeling of grinding. Thatīs the key to its success right there.

    Plus, the prestige system was a brilliant way of accommodating both those who like to grind out equipment and those who find it boring and just want to shoot stuff, in one XP system.