Modern Warfare 3 made $1 billion in 16 days

News
By published

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.

See more PC Gaming News
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. 

Latest in Call of Duty
A player wearing a gasmask and holding a gun during the shooter, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
Call of Duty season 2 brings back Gun Game and a fan-favorite Zombies weapon we haven't seen in 10 years
A player wearing a gasmask and holding a gun during the shooter, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
136,000 Call of Duty accounts have gotten banned since ranked launched for Black Ops 6: "We’re not slowing down in our mission to shut down cheaters"
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War reportedly surpasses Red Dead Redemption 2's huge development costs, with a massive $700 million budget
Black Ops 6
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 makes headshots deadlier while cutting back on weapon sway and recoil: "We will be keeping a close eye on sniper balance after this change"
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 movement.
Black Ops 6 player spent nearly 20 hours grinding to Prestige without getting a single kill, all by spamming Spy Cams
Black Ops 6 Zombies
Call of Duty hacker says "I had my fun" after reportedly getting thousands of Warzone and Modern Warfare 3 players falsely banned
Latest in News
Pillars of Eternity
10 years later, in a post-Baldur's Gate 3 and Avowed world, Obsidian is giving its own throwback CRPG Pillars of Eternity a turn-based combat mode
Destiny 2 Lightfall
When Destiny 2 "weekly active users dropped lower and faster than we'd seen since 2018," Bungie assembled an A-Team to put out some fires: "We needed to do something"
Velma, Daphne, Fred, Shaggy, and Scooby-Doo looking at a giant key which is also a clue
Netflix is rebooting Scooby-Doo as a live-action series from the producer of Supergirl and The Flash centered around a "supernatural murder" at a summer camp
Astro Bot
Astro Bot went through 23 pitch iterations before its director promised PlayStation "happy gameplay" and "overflowing charm," though it did once end with robot decapitation that made "some people really upset"
Tomb Raider
5 years after Avengers, 2 years after its last layoffs, and who knows how long before Perfect Dark and Tomb Raider return, Crystal Dynamics announces another round of layoffs
AI Limit
"AI is not as effective as it might appear": Dev of AI-focused Soulslike RPG says they didn't use any AI-generated content and it can't match "genuine creativity"
More about call of duty
A player wearing a gasmask and holding a gun during the shooter, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

Call of Duty season 2 brings back Gun Game and a fan-favorite Zombies weapon we haven't seen in 10 years
A player wearing a gasmask and holding a gun during the shooter, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

136,000 Call of Duty accounts have gotten banned since ranked launched for Black Ops 6: "We’re not slowing down in our mission to shut down cheaters"
Andor season 2

Andor showrunner hopes that the Disney Plus show's success helps convince Lucasfilm to sign off on either a Star Wars horror movie or sitcom

See more latest
Most Popular
Andor season 2
Andor showrunner hopes that the Disney Plus show's success helps convince Lucasfilm to sign off on either a Star Wars horror movie or sitcom
Pillars of Eternity
10 years later, in a post-Baldur's Gate 3 and Avowed world, Obsidian is giving its own throwback CRPG Pillars of Eternity a turn-based combat mode
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers with the rest of the gang during the superhero movie, The Avengers.
The OG Fox X-Men are back, with Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, and more joining the cast of Avengers: Doomsday alongside a whole new Avengers team to take on Robert Downey Jr's Doctor Doom
Destiny 2 Lightfall
When Destiny 2 "weekly active users dropped lower and faster than we'd seen since 2018," Bungie assembled an A-Team to put out some fires: "We needed to do something"
The Handmaid's Tale season 6 first look: Elisabeth Moss as June Osborne
The Handmaid's Tale will go back to basics with a "classic" series finale that's been years in the making
Velma, Daphne, Fred, Shaggy, and Scooby-Doo looking at a giant key which is also a clue
Netflix is rebooting Scooby-Doo as a live-action series from the producer of Supergirl and The Flash centered around a "supernatural murder" at a summer camp
Astro Bot
Astro Bot went through 23 pitch iterations before its director promised PlayStation "happy gameplay" and "overflowing charm," though it did once end with robot decapitation that made "some people really upset"
Tomb Raider
5 years after Avengers, 2 years after its last layoffs, and who knows how long before Perfect Dark and Tomb Raider return, Crystal Dynamics announces another round of layoffs
Black Mirror season 7
Charlie Brooker promises Black Mirror season 7 is "a bit more OG", having previously said that he didn't want the series to be known as "the 'tech is bad' show" anymore
AI Limit
"AI is not as effective as it might appear": Dev of AI-focused Soulslike RPG says they didn't use any AI-generated content and it can't match "genuine creativity"