The industry raised an eyebrow a few weeks ago when Activision failed to release its five-day totals for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, a ritual the publisher has performed for the past three years. Many wondered if Black Ops 2 was falling short of the sales marks left by previous Call of Duty titles, and if its publisher was trying to keep its numbers under wraps. Well, fear not, virtual men of valor: Activision announced today that its latest entry in the Call of Duty series has, once again, risen above the previous installments.
In just over two weeks–15 days to be exact–Black Ops 2 sold $1 billion worth of games, surpassing the series’ previous record by one day’s time. Before this announcement, the only w0rd Activision would give was the $500 million in day-1 sales (which also beat Modern Warfare 3’s record by $100 million). Now the company is proud to compare its rapid ascent to $1 billion to that of James Cameron’s Avatar, which reached the $1 billion mark after 17 days in theaters.
These numbers are, of course, encouraging for the Call of Duty franchise, but one question remains: just how long can this somewhat homogenous series maintain its place at the top of the gaming world? Will the next generation of consoles bring the first-person-shooting giant to its knees, or will it simply cause the upcoming games to rise to the occasion? Tell us your thoughts on Call of Duty’s sales and its outlook in the comments below!