Black Ops II nets $1 billion
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Latest Call of Duty game hits sales milestone in 15 days, outpacing Modern Warfare 3; 150 million hours played across Xbox Live and PlayStation Network.
Call of Duty: Black Ops II has generated $1 billion in worldwide revenue since launch on November 13, Activision announced today. The game reached the sales milestone in 15 days, outpacing last year's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, which needed 16 days to net $1 billion.
Citing Chart-Track data and internal company estimates, Activision said Black Ops II's record-setting sales illustrate the "strong appeal of interactive audiences worldwide." The company claims Black Ops II is off to a faster start than Hollywood juggernaut Avatar, which took 17 days to net $1 billion.
The accolades for Black Ops II and the Call of Duty series do not stop there. In a statement, Activision CEO Robert Kotick said since the series launched, total worldwide franchise sales have surpassed box office receipts for the top 10 grossing films of 2012 combined. Additionally, Kotick reiterated that life-to-date Call of Duty series sales have exceeded total worldwide box office revenue for the iconic Harry Potter and Star Wars franchises.
Additionally, Activision said since launch, players have logged more than 150 million hours of Black Ops II playtime across Xbox Live and PlayStation Network.
According to Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg, the success of Black Ops II is no mistake. The executive said that if Activision wants to keep the Call of Duty series relevant and compelling, the company must bring fresh ideas and innovation to each new entry while simultaneously balancing the core tenets of the series.
"That's what we did with Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and that's what we intend to keep on doing," Hirshberg said in a statement.
Though Activision may have another billion-dollar game to add to its resume, the Call of Duty series may be declining. In a note to investors last week, Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia projected that first-year sales for Black Ops II are trending down by 15 percent over Modern Warfare 3.
If accurate, this would be the second year running that the Call of Duty brand has declined year-over-year. The first came last year, Bhatia said, when Modern Warfare 3 was down 5 percent against sales of the original Call of Duty: Black Ops.
"It goes without saying that weakness in this franchise is a cause for concern," Bhatia said at the time.
Last month, Activision announced that Black Ops II netted $500 million during its first 24 hours, cruising past Modern Warfare 3's day-one haul of $400 million. Importantly, though, Modern Warfare 3's figure only accounts for North American and European sales, while Black Ops II's figure factors in all regions.
Additionally, Activision did not reveal five-day sales of Black Ops II. This is a departure from normative behavior, as the publisher announced five-day sales for 2011's Modern Warfare 3 ($775 million), 2010's original Black Ops ($650 million), and 2009's Modern Warfare 2 ($550 million).
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
205 comments
1 Like Battlefield 3 is highly more advanced, I would classify COD as an arcade game than an actual retail console game. The campaign was a joke.
in my entire neighborhood (and maybe the entire town lol) everyone is playing COD on their consoles, i think i am the only moron playing Guilty Gear AC+ on PSN rofl...
meh! All the praise the game is getting is because every "casual" out there likes Call of Duty, and is buying it.
I don't see how they are pushing the FPS genre? I don't see innovation? I don't get the praise...
OH WAIT IT IS BECAUSE IT IS SELLING...
(oh well if you like that kinda of stuff... more power to you...)
ts great news!give fans the game engine they want it to run on!frostbite or cy engine 3!i think it will finally kill the comparison of graphics b/n it and battlefield!besides cod is the trend setter in the fps genre!no one can beat that!
4 Like CoD is (usually) a solid shooter, but it isn't relevant to pushing the FPS genre anymore. Halo and Battlefield are doing things to elevate gaming, even though they don't sell as well as CoD. If they don't stop messing around and start making serious changes to the multiplayer, CoD will eventually get left behind. I'm a legit fan of CoD, but it's time for them to stop embarrasing themselves. I want to see CoD get back in front of Battlefield in terms of the actual game, and the next gen consoles will give them a chance to do that.
$1 billion for a game is great news for the industry and the economy I presume. It just sucks that it has to be COD. I guess it makes sense since this game is mainstream and we all know what to expect from them.
1 Like Faith in fellow gamers is dwindling...I honestly don't see why they keep buying what is essentially the same game. Honestly, as a shooter I find Call of Duty is becoming more and more mediocre every year. It is just loud and abrasive and does nothing to push the medium forward.
Strange how well this game continues to sell each time a new one comes out when there are so many people out there that claim to hate this franchise!
Still don't understand why they keep comparing the game to movies, as far as I know a movie ticket is around $13 while a game is $60.
Also, ever heard the expression, if it ain't broke don't fix it? I think that applies quite nicely here.
1 Like haha, what did we all say, everyone saying how this time they won't break record sales, and as predicted it outsold MW3, and here's my next prediction, MW4 will break BLOPS2 sales, despite people saying how terrible MW3 was.
1 Like why do they keep comparing games to movies????its like comparing apples to oranges.....how the hell did that guy become CEO when he cant even make logical comparisons......
2 Like I take these games for exactly what they are meant to be. Something to play with against friends and have some fun. Kind of like how we used to get together on the weekends, have a party, and play some Mario Party.
@richten71 Exactly. It seems like it's now the cool thing to hate on COD. The game is still fun. Yeah the series may be a bit overrated but that still doesn't mean these titles are bad, or arent worth the purchase.
That's just because Black Ops was a good game... MW3 sucked complete donkeys balls because Infinity Ward couldn't match the greatness of MW2 and BO2 had to follow the horridness that was MW3... It's also not that good but is an improvement... MW4 will be no exception, in my opinion... The fact Infinity Ward are attached won't help at all.. however it looks like it'll be a launch title so with bundles and deals it should do just as well... that being said making half the money BO2 has made is still pretty darn impressive
150 million hours!.. what a waste... there are more enlightening games out there people!, its fine by me if you want to waste most of your gaming lives playing COD online, fair play, same trap every year, at least I know I have a better gaming palette than most kids today.
Maybe the makers should make the campaign longer if not better. The missions are too short if not the whole game play. I wont be getting Black Ops 2 until sometime late next year like i did with MW3 which i got a week before BO 2 came out.
i dun think make them longer, like shooting enemies over and over gets boring...for me anyways
They have foregrips in the game for weapons even though there's no recoil to any of the weapons. The hit boxes are enlarged to compensate for the low IQ of those who love the game. You don't actually have to have your sights on the enemy, auto-aim will give you a kill anyways to make you feel better. LOLOL
@nousername66 that goes for any console shooter halo,cod,resistance ect,,. I can tell you have never played the game your just spouting off what other people say.
Sounds about right with the great multiplayer and fresh "pick 10" create a class. Now only if theyd give free DLC to those who spent 60 and bought the game new
3 Like This is hilarious since Gamespot just had an article a few days ago saying how Black Ops 2 wasn't selling well and how COD has finally taken a turn downhill.. and in the comments were a few of us posting how there was an article before that stating how there was an article on here about how Black Ops 2 was well ahead of MW3.. seriously Gamespot, whats with all the contradicting articles??
1 Like Kudos to Treyarch. I just picked up my copy not too long ago and I'm absolutely loving it.
2 Like Hate on Activision all you want, if you could make money as easy as these guys do, you know you would do it too.
5 Like There's a lot of idiots in the world who are making Activision very rich for putting out the same game every year.
1 Like @nousername66 I would have bought the game even without a campaign. Infact, I havent even played the last 3 cod campaigns because all i care about is the multiplayer. You probably just suck at the game
@PicklePuffer The game is geared toward kids and people such as yourself who can't play without autoaim and no recoil.
@PicklePuffer @nousername66 agreed, I like COD because I can have a quick sitdown when I have 10-20 minutes to kill, and fit a few rounds in, no dramas. Battlefield on the other hand can go on for quite some time, different games to suit different peoples needs.
@nousername66 As funny as it is hearing 12 year olds complaining when i put them in their killcam COD is geared toward accessible arcade game play. You probably like 40 min matches
When there's this much profit to be had, there's no way Activision will stop making COD on a yearly basis unless someone kills Bobby Kotick.
4 Like At least 21th december is coming....
So sad , with news like that people can forget about new games and innovations , it will be CoD forever now...
What kind of moron still buy this kind of game ?
I mean cmon , it's probably CoD 6 by now , Activision release like 2-3 CoD a year and people still buy it.
Its like the IPHONE stuff.....
@suplax Activsion only release 1 COD a year, Black Ops 2 is actully Call Of Duty 9, if people enjoy the game they'll keep buying it however this doesn't mean the game is amazing or really good since sales don't mean the game is high Qualety. Black Ops 2 imo was good, i liked the branching story lines, the neat new gadgets like the cloak suit and the zombies mode is a ton fun thanks to the more open sanbox design of the zombie map. Only thing which is unispiring and boring is the Multiplayer in the game, it's also unplayable 50% time thanks to massive lagg comepnsation issues.
The sad fact is, no matter how stale or repetative the series may feel, the figures show that there's more people that want the series to continue than want it to stop, until that changes everyone can expect a new cod game every year or two. Mabye a change of scenario might freshen things up. Forget the modern warfare or black ops theme, space combat could be a winner. I hear the red planet can be very picturesque during a gun fight!
2 Like COD 1920x1080 Screenshot comparison:
COD:MW1 (2007 game)http://www.gamejudgment.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/cod4-pic1.jpg
vs.
COD:BO2 (2012 game)
http://gamegpu.ru/images/stories/Test_GPU/Action/Call%20of%20Duty%20Black%20Ops%20II/t6sp_2012_11_13_12_14_06_465.jpg WTF, in 5 years the game looks 98% the same.
Now look at the mountains, foliage, grass, tress in COD:BO2 and compare them to Far Cry 3.
http://www.abload.de/img/screenshot0006y0qyy.png
WOW! COD needs a new game engine, like 5 years ago.....
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