With so many ups and downs in gaming, you’d think the industry would be cautious about celebrating. Still, there’s definitely reason to celebrate the recent success of CoD: Modern Warfare 3.
Yes, the title reportedly earned a billion faster than Avatar did. Again, with the mercurial climate of gaming, who knows how long this victory will last, but it’s sure a hell of a victory by anyone’s standards.
As the L.A. Times confirms, Call of Duty made a billion in sixteen days, while James Cameron’s epic Avatar took seventeen days to generate the same amount.
Unsurprisingly, Activision’s been crowing pretty loud over this victory, putting Call of Duty in the same money making league as Star Wars, Harry Potter, and the NFL.
This major boost also puts Call of Duty: MW3 at #1 on Amazon’s list of the year, with Just Dance 3 at #2, Elder Scrolls Skyrim at #3, followed by Battlefield 3, Portal 2, Batman: Arkham City, Just Dance 2, Madden NFL 12, Gears of War 3, and Call of Duty: Black Ops. (The Times also noted that this list only includes games sold as discs sales, and doesn’t include download sales).
So does this mean gaming’s back? Well, who knows what tomorrow will bring, but for the moment, all of the above is obviously a very good sign.
As analysts at Zacks Equity Research explain, “It remains to be seen how well the season fares and if it can provide some respite to the industry that suffered a slump during the summer. We also remain cautious about retail sales and believe that strong growth in the digital business will cannibalize the market going forward.
“The overall game market remains highly fragmented. Despite competition and a lackluster macro outlook, we believe that companies with significant exposure to the digital business will stand out even in this sluggish market.”
