Modern Warfare 2 makes a billion dollars

By Robert Purchese Published 14 January, 2010

Activision's Dr. Evil gets his just desserts.

Activision's record-breaking Modern Warfare 2 has crashed past the $1bn mark after only two months on sale.

That's more money than Capcom made from all its games - including Street Fighter IV and Resident Evil 5 - in the last financial year.

Modern Warfare 2 rewrote the record books when released around the world in early November 2009. Here in the UK, the game sold 1.7m copies and generated £67.4m in five days, blowing GTAIV's previous opening week record of 927,000 units out of the water.

Activision later claimed that Modern Warfare 2 had amassed $550m in its first five days on sale around the world - a figure the eclipses cinema's biggest releases The Dark Knight and Harry Potter.

MW2 would later finish as the US and UK's biggest-selling game of the year.

Yet Modern Warfare 2's success, while staggering, was expected. Infinity Ward's first Modern Warfare game reinvigorated the series, and has sold an outstanding 14m copies to date.

More shocking were rumours that Infinity Ward might not be developing Modern Warfare 3, but pursuing another project while Activision drafts a dogsbody developer to fill the gap.

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.

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

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Comments (49) Latest comment 7 months ago

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  • Antaios #1 2 years ago

    Wow. That's a lot of money.

  • bnazir #2 2 years ago

    you will all become one with the BORG..

  • flaming.carrot #3 2 years ago

    Doesn't disguise that fact that it is a really bland and unremarkable game though (IMHO).

  • Fab4 #4 2 years ago

    Bland sells though.

  • actionfitz #5 2 years ago

    Cue Modern Warfare 3 at £70+ RRP
    /sigh

  • Vice.Destroyer #6 2 years ago

    Everytime I see a story regarding the sales figures of MW2, I always have to think of the nerd outrage and proposed boycotting of the game because of the high RRP.

    Glad to see that peoples resolve stayed steadfast.

  • shotgun44 #7 2 years ago

    Anyone who actually pays the RRP for a game is a total mug anyway...

  • schnide #8 2 years ago

    I'd be surprised if Infinity Ward didn't do it. COD7 maybe not, but MW3 (COD8)? It's their baby.

  • schnide #9 2 years ago

    Actually come to think of it, what am I saying? This is Activision. It's exactly like them - leave a "lesser" developer to keep churning out existing IP that will sell on the name alone, and let Infinity Ward establish a new one for the cycle to begin all over again.

  • Fantinu #10 2 years ago

    The single-player of this game is totally ridiculous and rather dull. I take it people buy this for the multiplayer.

  • Yossarian #11 2 years ago

    It's just "deserts", not just "desserts". Same derivation as "deserves/deserving".

  • cianchristopher #12 2 years ago

    Oooooooohhhhhhh!

  • penhalion #13 2 years ago

    Er aren't those figures based on the game selling at full retail price though? And I didn't see this anywhere for full retail price.

  • Skurmedel #14 2 years ago

    bnazir: You forgot "Resistance is futile", otherwise, nice one :)

  • Fab4 #15 2 years ago

    It doesnt matter to Activision whether you buy it at full retail price or not. Its the retailers who take the hit, not them. The retailers in turn pass that hit on to their customers on other products.

  • M_of_the_sys #16 2 years ago

    I never quite got into the MP until I went on last night with some mates. T'was loads of fun. I do love the Spec Ops though. It's not a bad game but it's also nothing ground breaking. At the end of the day, the game is fun and isn't that what's important?

  • jag10 #17 2 years ago

    @Vice.Destroyer

    it was £26 in some supermarkets

  • Branoic #18 2 years ago

    @vice.destroyer
    you're forgetting 2 things:
    1) those that moan and bitch on the Internet are, despite what they think of their own importance in the "game community", only a teeny tiny percentage of the videogame buying public
    2) practically nowhere was selling the game at RRP when it was released - there were all sorts if crazy cheap special offer prices.

  • cyber_nicco #19 2 years ago

    In the U.S. most games, including this one, sell for MSRP almost everywhere for quite some time. Same is true of the consoles themselves. That being said, I think the margins here are much smaller.

  • Vice.Destroyer #20 2 years ago

    The way I remember the outrage, is that the boycott was supposed to be done on principle. To show Activision that an RRP of whatever it was, was too high. Not that people were only going to buy it, if it was priced reasonably. They wanted to send a message out.

    @jag10 and Branoic.

    Might be wrong, though.

  • coolbritannia #21 2 years ago

    Brilliant game, retaking the white house was a cinematic highpoint, and multiplayer is the best on the 360. Only marginally better than Halo 3/ODST mind.

  • ignatiusjreilly #22 2 years ago

    The way I remember the outrage, is that the boycott was supposed to be done on principle

    So what did you expect? That the boycott would mean CoD didn't chart? I think most of those who followed through with their boycott knew it would barely make a dent in sales figures.

    It was about, as you say, the principle of the matter.

  • jambo74 #23 2 years ago

    Put that in your pipe and smoke it Codemasters!

  • muscleblade #24 2 years ago

    I know i will be buying the next game IW makes. The next MW? Probably not if IW doesnt make it.

  • cairbre1977 #25 2 years ago

    Well I didnt get it and am hanging on for BFBC2. No dedicated servers no buy.

  • kipper #26 2 years ago

    I have boycotted the game because the sp campaign appears to be offensive, discriminatory rubbish; not the price issue. Although I do wonder how many of those night vision goggles editions actually were purchased.

  • ignatiusjreilly #27 2 years ago

    They started out small made some critically acvlaimed games, stabbed their hardcore fans in the back (YAWN) and capitalised on the hype with their latest release by putting up their RRP.

    It really is a sad story when you put it like that. What's even sadder (although understandable) is that according to EG's article, this was the highlight of the year for the games industry.

  • rashes #28 2 years ago

    Can some of the posters here stop moaning!!

    The RRP complaint is rubbish... because of discounting it was the cheapest new boxed release of the year.

    Calling it bland is just ridiculous. The Single player is not to my taste but it's hardly bland. The multi-player is the main reason for the year on year success of the series and if a straightforward team shooter is what you are into then it hasn't been touched by any other title.
    (BF 2 might have a thing to say about that)

  • duckncover #29 2 years ago

    I'm so happy I didn't buy it. It's like being part of small elite group that I like to call "Those with a spine".

  • KDR_11k #30 2 years ago

    Yeah, sorry, I contributed 30€ to that pile. What, you think I'd pay full price?

    Fantinu: Yep, a neat casual online FPS.
    Edited by 1 at 14/01/10 @ 12:30

  • gorf #31 2 years ago

    wonder how this stacks up against blockbuster films, sure is a lot of money. wonder what the devlopment costs were

  • ignatiusjreilly #32 2 years ago

    Only five films have ever broken the 1bn barrier, and only a few games (mostly made by Activision e.g. Guitar Hero and WoW).

  • jefranklin18 #33 2 years ago

    Whether or not you paid full retail price is immaterial, Activision make their money because it is the retailer takes the hit with their margins. They will be subsidising sales of MW2 in the hope that they can sell you the walkthrough books, additional controllers, or whatever where they will keep their margins.

  • T4RG4 #34 2 years ago

    I loved MW1, both single-player and MP. MW2 single-player felt like a let down to me personally and I dont think I've covered more than 20% of with little intention to go back.

    MW2 I would have bought just for the MP, like most people I guess. Same with Forza, just for Time Trial and MP, the single-player in these games sucks.

  • geeza2020 #35 2 years ago

    T4RG4

    So you played 20% of the game and dub it a let down? If a reviewer on this site did that you would be going bat-shit crazy.

  • Quixz #36 2 years ago

    I just hope infinity Ward got a good cut of that.. chances are they didn't get that much more compared to the norm.

  • TheBoyChris #37 2 years ago

    Did anyone actually buy this game for £55? I highly doubt anyone bought it for more than £37...

  • ignatiusjreilly #38 2 years ago

    Whether or not you paid full retail price is immaterial, Activision make their money because it is the retailer takes the hit with their margins.

    Yes, but is this article talking $1bn at retail, or $1bn to the publisher at cost price? I suspect it means $1bn at retail, in which case the price it is sold at makes a big difference.

    Who knows if the took discounted prices into consideration however. I'd guess that they just took the number of sales and multiplied it by the RRP to get the 1 billion figure. If they did, it hasn't actually taken anywhere near $1bn at all...

    edit: Yes, I think I'm right. From what I can tell, total sales are about 15 million. 1 billion divided by 15 million is $66.66, which is way more than most copies in the US and UK were actually sold for.

    So unless anyone can think of an explanation for that, I call shenanigans on that $1bn figure, despite the factthat every games site (and 'real' news outlets) are reporting it as true based on Activision's press release.
    Edited by 3 at 14/01/10 @ 14:40

  • DoctorZoidberg #39 2 years ago

    I got it for a tenner when I exchanged MW1. And for a tenner its remarkable value.

    I still don't understand the people who didn't buy it out of "principle". As if activision give a shit what less that 1% of the games buying public think of their RRP, that I didn't see anyway, in fact as mentioned £26 was one of the cheapest release prices.

    It's not as if its a shit game, its pretty good. I've had a real hoot playing spec ops with my mates.

    Of course the bonus side is that there are a few less idiots moaning over the chat mid game. Keep em' out I say if they're stupid enough not to buy a game for reasons that are nothing to do with the game itself.

  • Fab4 #40 2 years ago

    It wasnt the price principle that stopped me buying it, it was the fact its continued down the road of the lame ass perk/kill streak system. Plus friends have told me the matchmaking hasnt significantly improved, and tbh, it was pretty shit in MW and WaW.

  • ignatiusjreilly #41 2 years ago

    @DoctorZiodberg: You don't understand why people do anything out of principle, or just in this particular case?

    There are lots of things I do or don't do out of principle, even if my own personal contribution doesn't achieve anything on a wider scale.

  • Wolranker #42 2 years ago

    when did this game become Activision? I thought IW went solo as Activision wanted WWII but IW always wanted to do present scenarios

  • Fab4 #43 2 years ago

    "when did this game become Activision? I thought IW went solo as Activision wanted WWII but IW always wanted to do present scenarios"

    Activision owns both IW and Treyarch.

  • Lotek #44 2 years ago

    Single player was worth a play - could have been longer
    Special ops was good when playing co op
    multiplayer gets less exciting every time I play. Campers and Snipers don't help with this.

    But when new maps are put on marketplace for purchase I guarantee the amount of downloads will make for another topic based on how much money the developer has made.


  • darc #45 2 years ago

    Wow, "dogsbody" is a word.

  • Rodchenko #46 2 years ago

    Chew on that Mr. Cameron!

  • jambo74 #47 2 years ago

    Put that in your pipe and smoke it Codemasters!

  • jambo74 #48 2 years ago

    @Lotek

    Ah, but when you know the spots it is great fun ambushing the same player over and over and over again.....

  • james-mw3-mw3 #49 7 months ago

    Modern Warfare 3 will be released on 8th November! It's actually the 8th main Call of Duty game, and the fifth developed by Infinity Ward. Modern Warfare 3 multiplayer will debut at the Call of Duty XP convention on September 2 and I'm betting that they will show all the weapons and perks of MW3.