Modern Warfare 3 made $1 billion in 16 days

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Activision Blizzard claims Call of Duty sequel is the new king of all entertainment

Activision has reported a massive retail victory for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. In addition to taking home “Best Shooter” honors from Spike TV's Video Game Awards over the weekend, and also taking top spot in NPD's US November numbers, the latest in Activision's lucrative FPS series was today revealed to have crossed the $1 billion sales mark in just 16 days following its release on November 8.

By Activision's estimation, this achievement trumps the film Avatar's 17-day $1 billion sales record set in 2009, making Modern Warfare 3 the new entertainment property to beat. Moreover, the publisher revealed its Call of Duty Elite service has recruited over six million registered players and over one million premium accounts to its ranks – far outpacing the rate of initial growth clocked by online services like Xbox 360, Netflix, and Hulu Plus.

“While the franchise continues to set records, our fans still seem to want more, demonstrated by our record setting start on Call of Duty Elite,” said Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg of its digital occupation, adding, “We are committed to helping everyone connect, compete and improve their game, Call of Duty style.”

Modern Warfare 3's billion dollar milestone is impressive, but far from surprising. Last month, it was revealed the sequel had broken the five-day record for sales across all forms of media with global earnings of over $775 million. This beat out the previous record holder, Call of Duty: Black Ops, by over $100 million dollars, and bumped Call of Duty's lifetime profits to somewhere in the neighborhood of $6 billion.

In short: whether you love it or hate it, Call of Duty will outlive us all.

Matt Bradford

Matt Bradford wrote news and features here at GamesRadar+ until 2016. Since then he's gone on to work with the Guinness World Records, acting as writer and researcher for the annual Gamer's Edition series of books, and has worked as an editor, technical writer, and voice actor. Matt is now a freelance journalist and editor, generating copy across a multitude of industries.