It’s remarkable to see gaming make a big comeback, but what’s a little surprising is the battle between the two big boys at the top.
Halo 4 had a hell of a promotional run, even to the point where Master Chef and company took over a small European country. And its sales figures of $220 million the first day sure aren’t chickenfeed any way you slice it. But CoD: Black Ops 2 sales have blown it out the door and them some.
CoD made headlines for making $500 million its first day of release, and now Forbes confirms the game has managed to sell over 11 million units its first week. This is a little behind Modern Warfare 3, which sold 13.45 units its first week. But again, $500 million in a day and 11 million units in a week is definitely huge.
Forbes speculates that Halo 4 could have cut into Call of Duty’s sales, “but this level of sales is hardly indicative of fatigue” over the series. While Forbes contributor Erik Kain nit-picked over the quality of the game a bit, “it’s extremely difficult to disagree with those sales figures,” he writes. “We’re well past fluke territory.”
Kain was hoping for something a bit different this time around with Call of Duty, remarking that “innovation is important, but staying true to a series and its fans is just as vital.” And indeed, the fans keep coming back every game, to the point where it overshadowed the hype of Halo 4.
As Nasdaq.com reports, “Over the past three years, Activision has increased the number of units sold for each new Call of Duty game. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 sold 12.91 million units on Xbox360 and 10.06 million units on PlayStation 3. A record-breaking 13.68 million consumers purchased the Xbox 360 version of the first Call of Duty: Black Ops; 11.66 million bought the PlayStation 3 version. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 sold an astonishing 14.69 million units on Xbox 360 and another 12.53 million units on PlayStation 3.”
With the gaming business going through so many ups and downs, it’s good to know there’s a franchise you can rely on, and Activision’s definitely got a major blockbuster this year with Black Ops 2. As Nasdaq’s statistics above absolutely prove, the success of the series, and the loyalty of the fans towards it, is definitely no fluke.
