In case you were wondering, Call of Duty is still very, very popular.
Showing no signs of slowing down, the Call of Duty franchise appears to once again have another top-selling title on its hands. According to Activision, Black Ops II managed to rake in over $500 million within 24 hours of its worldwide debut. This gives the franchise the “Biggest Entertainment Launch” title for the fourth year in a row.
In an official press release, the company boasts that over 16,000 stores held midnight openings around the world to get the game in the hands of customers as soon as possible. It goes on to note that Black Ops II was a top Twitter trending topic in 23 cities, and the company’s Surprise launch advert has topped 30 million YouTube views.
“Call of Duty has become more than a product people buy, it’s become a brand people buy into,” says Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing. “And every November we do more than just launch a game, we kick off an annual, unofficial but worldwide phenomenon called Call of Duty season.”
No unit sales figures have been revealed, and it’s difficult to estimate a number of copies sold given that there are multiple versions of the title at differing price points. Still, half a billion dollars within the first day of release should be a pretty good indication that lots and lots of gamers are already waging futuristic war on each other.
