Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 hit $1 billion faster than Avatar

You may be wondering, "Did Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 sell loads, or loads?" Luckily, publisher Activision today proffered a new boast about its sales performance, declaring that it hit the $1 billion mark within 16 days of its November 8 launch.

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You may be wondering, "Did Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 sell loads, or loads?" Luckily for you, publisher Activision today proffered a new boast about the sales performance of Infinity Ward's shooter, declaring that it hit the $1 billion mark within 16 days of its November 8 launch.

This achievement has seen Modern Warfare 3 best the world's highest-grossing film, James Cameron's Avatar--the movie, not the video game--which took 17 days to hit $1 billion, Activision says. Of course, Avatar cinema tickets were an awful lot cheaper than copies of MW3.

Activision bases this MW3 sales figure on data from market research firm Charttrack and "retail customer sell-through information."

"Call of Duty as an entertainment franchise has made an indelible mark on popular culture and its broad and continued success is further validation that audiences increasingly value interactive experiences over passive experiences," Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick claimed in today's announcement.

It's now official: people quite like video games.

From The Chatty
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    December 12, 2011 8:00 AM

    Alice O'Connor posted a new article, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 hit $1 billion faster than Avatar.

    You may be wondering, "Did Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 sell loads, or loads?" Luckily, publisher Activision today proffered a new boast about its sales performance, declaring that it hit the $1 billion mark within 16 days of its November 8 launch.

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      December 12, 2011 8:03 AM

      [deleted]

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      December 12, 2011 8:12 AM

      Of course, Avatar cinema tickets were an awful lot cheaper than copies of MW3.

      This fact is why I don't understand why game companies brag about their games overtaking ticket sales. Of COURSE a $60 game outsold a movie whose tickets ranged from $10-$20-something.

      I wish the game industry would quit comparing itself to the movie industry. It makes developers look so self-conscious and petty. Games are a medium unto itself. You don't have to beat anybody. It's okay. We'll still hang out with you.

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        December 12, 2011 8:15 AM

        Unfortunately a lot of people in the games industry wish it was like the movie industry, which probably also explains why so many big budget games end up being linear and with lots of cutscenes, which is the last thing I want games to be.

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          December 12, 2011 8:27 AM

          You know movie stars get all the chicks and big name media outlets will write about movie directors and treat them like important cultural icons. Game developers? Not so much.

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          December 12, 2011 8:32 AM

          [deleted]

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          December 12, 2011 9:10 AM

          Actually quite a few of us enjoy a well written, well paced and well scripted, linear gaming experience.

          I am currently playing through Dead Space 2 (absolutely enjoyed the first game) and am having a blast.

          I enjoy open-ended games quite a bit more than most scripted games, but when a game as good as Dead Space 1 and 2 come along, it is good to take a break from the open world games.

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        December 12, 2011 8:30 AM

        Its all about money, why wouldn't they?

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          December 12, 2011 8:34 PM

          actually it's not. I mean, it is for the companies, but it's a questionable long-term business model.

          my big fear is that it's basically the same demographics that are buying the game, and that companies are just becoming more efficient at exploiting that demographic, not actually expanding the audience.

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        December 12, 2011 8:43 AM

        LOL no the end goal is getting a customer to part with their money. it doesnt matter if it was done in $1 increments or $60. the comparison is that you pulled X dollars from the audience so its a valid comparison. also because basic economic rules apply that the cheaper the unit, all else being equal, there should be more units sold. the fact that so many units sold at such a high price is to be commended.

        also, dont kid yourself. the movie industry is better at evrything than the game industry. just take a look at how good artists and business people and producers and creatives and writers are in hollywood compared to the game industry. its like the NFL compared to high school football. consider this news story like some high school team beat an NFL team LOL

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        December 12, 2011 9:03 AM

        Well really this is a publisher (which performs quite mediocre for all of its success on the stock market), so they need to drum up this type of sales success as much as possible to ensure that their stock doesn't plummet into the ground.

        In this case, hate the game, and the players.

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        December 12, 2011 9:06 AM

        Activision is too in love with Hollywood to hear you.

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        December 12, 2011 9:09 AM

        Phrasing it like this gets the story into the mainstream press, and they will do anything to get their game into the mainstream press.

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        December 12, 2011 10:37 PM

        If Avatar movie tickets were $60 how long would it have taken for it to get to a billion in sales?

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          December 12, 2011 11:44 PM

          It would have never happened

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        December 13, 2011 12:06 AM

        Avatar appeals to a much wider audience. From 8-80.

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      December 12, 2011 8:40 AM

      Cept Mw3 is the same damn game as Mw2.

      It won't be able to go much longer doing the same $%&@ over and over.

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        December 12, 2011 9:06 AM

        People were saying that when WaW came out. Three major releases and 5-6 DLC later, and here we are.

        I wouldn't be shocked if the next one was built on a new engine, though. Graphically, they're behind other shooters.

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          December 12, 2011 9:08 AM

          The proof is in the pudding that there's more to games than just graphics.

          If the game play is solid, you're still going to have a lot of success.

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            December 12, 2011 9:13 AM

            If sales only depended on gameplay then so many other games would be selling more copies

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              December 12, 2011 9:57 AM

              That's why I said that there's more to games than just graphics:

              Gameplay
              Story
              Developer's history
              Community / Marketing
              Sound / Music

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            December 12, 2011 9:19 AM

            Mw3 wouldnt have made any money if gameplay was required. There have been much better cod titles

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            December 12, 2011 9:28 AM

            Oh, I agree completely. Just look at UT2K3/4 if you want a good example of that in the FPS world.

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          December 12, 2011 9:16 AM

          They don't have the time to build a new engine; they're stuck in their "2-year-leapfrog" strategy, and most of the technical talent behind IW4 went out the door to Respawn. I don't see them making a new engine, because their current one is still so versatile for setpiece shooters at 60 FPS on this console generation. There's also no one else with a real challenge on a multiplatform FPS, since Id is probably still 2 or 3 years out with Doom 4 (if it hasn't been canceled yet), and Epic isn't making FPS games anymore. Crytek has enough problems making a fun game, and who knows what they're doing now that they hate consoles about as much as they hate the PC.

          2012 is the decline of the FPS genre. Boring sequels rehashing the same old stuff (yet more Bioshock, yet more Team Fortress, yet more Call of Duty).

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            December 12, 2011 9:26 AM

            Well, I was thinking the next major release being on a new set of consoles, I probably should've said that. Yes, I'm aware graphics don't make a game fun, but if you're getting into a new console that's much more powerful (theoretically, anyway), then I'd expect them to do something to the engine.

            I agree, though, that FPS games on consoles are getting a bit stale. MW3, BF3, Halo 4 (eventually), etc. I'd like to see something come along and refresh the genre, but honestly I'm not sure what that could be.

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              December 12, 2011 10:13 AM

              If you knew what could refresh the genre, it wouldn't be refreshing.

              For a new engine for Call of Duty, Activision's best bet could be to have Raven on the tech side, unless there are some unsung graphics engine heros at Treyarch or newly hired into Infinity Ward (don't count that out; Red 5 recently hired one of the core architects of CryEngine 3). But for what, another roller-coaster-ride Call of Duty? It's disappointing, but would probably still sell well.

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            December 12, 2011 10:43 AM

            Yah I doubt we will see a new engine for COD games, until the next-gen consoles come out. Or they will use the existing one at 1080p, use higher resolution textures, FSAA and more Post Processing effects.

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      December 12, 2011 9:15 AM

      I still have not purchased any CoD game after MW(1). Never understood the hype, CoD/MW was *meh* at best.

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        December 12, 2011 10:45 PM

        MW1 was a fantastic game.

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          December 13, 2011 12:31 AM

          Tasts differ, I was dissapointed. Single player was horrible (of course) and Multiplayer was just too simplified. I personally disliked some of the map design as well.

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            December 13, 2011 4:27 AM

            Taste may differ but facts are still facts. While I may not like some games because they are not the type of game I like to play I still have the ability to see many of these games as quality games. For example, maybe I don't like arcade racing games. That doesn't mean that Burnout isn't a well made and fantastic game just because my taste differs. MW1 is a great game for so many reasons. For the type of game they made they could not have done much better.

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      December 12, 2011 9:16 AM

      So far I like MW3 more than Avatar (on a story level).

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      December 12, 2011 9:20 AM

      but there's often fewer MW3 people on PC than in world of tanks.... GG, QQ

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        December 12, 2011 10:02 AM

        also maybe some day I can adjust my FOV in MW3, that would be great !!!!!

        but yeah world of tanks has more players than MW3 quite often..............

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      December 12, 2011 10:54 AM

      Avatar didn't cost me 60$ to get in

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      December 12, 2011 11:22 AM

      yeah bragging about much money they made is a slap in the face without dedicated servers. We got so much money we don't know what to do with it, EXCEPT give you guys a better experience. Why oh why do they not pony up a little money and run a few dedicated servers for their games???

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        December 12, 2011 11:23 AM

        they literally do it just to piss you off

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      December 12, 2011 11:49 AM

      Seriously, is CoD that good ? Everytime I see the screenshots it looks like the same exact game with a different name.

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        December 12, 2011 12:15 PM

        It is the exact same game with a different name, it just makes bucket-loads of money for completely unknown reasons.

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      December 12, 2011 12:12 PM

      I wish COD threads and articles could just not be posted on the shack anymore so I wouldn't have to listen to everyone make the same obnoxious comments over and over and over.

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        December 12, 2011 12:53 PM

        At least it makes for an interesting psychological study. You have plenty of other games with multiple sequels being celebrated to death around here, but the same courtesy isn't afforded MW. Why the double standard?

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          December 12, 2011 12:56 PM

          [deleted]

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          December 12, 2011 1:04 PM

          I think it comes down to a lot of things. A few off the top of my head:

          - COD is console centric. Shack hates consoles and looooooooves PC's.
          - Activision is a hard company to love thanks to some of their business practices and their mouthy CEO.
          - COD is generally considered a bro game. Lots of nerds hate bros because they beat us up in high school.

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          December 12, 2011 1:09 PM

          A lot of those games have major improvements. CoD MW3... not so much (MW and MW2 though, both were great sequels).

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          December 12, 2011 2:28 PM

          To me, the MW series is the saltines of gaming. If you like them you like them, if you don't you don't. There's nothing really special about them, but they satisfy your craving for *something*. They don't fuck with the recipe for each new release because they know they have loyal customers who don't like it when things get changed.

          Many of the 'other' games that have sequels add a LOT in terms of new content, new paradigms, new mechanics, new engines, etc when they come out. Some don't, but many do. I think those are the ones that people rave about.

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          December 13, 2011 12:26 AM

          I don't agree with the criticisms of the writing in these games. I'm not saying it's "good" in a classical sense, but as context and motivation for an escapist gallery shooting video game it works very well. It was never distractingly bad, in my experience. Then again, I play a lot of poorly translated Japanese games, so I probably wouldn't know good writing if it shoved a Pulitzer prize up my ass.

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      December 12, 2011 12:17 PM

      the best part is that the game is terrible. a real piece of shit. I wasted another $60 when I should have known better after BlackOps.

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        December 12, 2011 12:41 PM

        Shouldn't you have known better like, 3 games ago?

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          December 12, 2011 2:15 PM

          i put almost 400 hours into MW2 so I sorta wished even though I knew it was a different team.

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            December 12, 2011 2:42 PM

            I don't think I put that much time into Morrowind. Makes me glad I never got caught up in the whole WW2 shooter genre.

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        December 12, 2011 2:48 PM

        Nah, the REAL best part is that I've actually quite enjoyed it, especially playing Survival with some friends.

        Opinions, and all that.

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      December 12, 2011 12:57 PM

      finally a game where i can play a soldier and shot other soldiers with realistic gun

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        December 12, 2011 1:04 PM

        finally a game where i can play a rock star and play other songs with realistic guitar

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        December 12, 2011 1:05 PM

        retweeted

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      December 12, 2011 2:43 PM

      How mad is everyone here?

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        December 12, 2011 2:45 PM

        Give me a scale.

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          December 12, 2011 2:47 PM

          From Michael Vick to 9/11

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            December 12, 2011 2:51 PM

            A Japanese man who has just learned his daughter failed out of high school is sleeping exclusively with black men.

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              December 12, 2011 2:58 PM

              Daughter: I don't need a school anyway!
              Father: You don't need a skewl? If nigga no go to skewl, nigga no get a job, if nigga no get a job, nigga no make no money, if nigga no make no money, nigga no be able to afford BMW 7 series nigga!


              from the oldie but goldie Tokyo Breakfast:
              http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgjwjaBJ5Do

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            December 12, 2011 3:21 PM

            I'd have to go with a wealthy father in a Fascist society who just learned that his son enlisted in the military without his permission.

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            December 12, 2011 3:23 PM

            Southern man who just learned his star quarterback son has come out of the closet and is now a gay rights activist.

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            December 12, 2011 8:26 PM

            9/12

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        December 12, 2011 2:46 PM

        A certain amount of mad.

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        December 12, 2011 2:47 PM

        I clenched my fist so hard it made me tear up a little but I was so hot with rage the tears evaporated into a steamy cloud of hate.

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      December 12, 2011 4:16 PM

      I remember a few months ago all the COD haters saying it was not going to sell as many as Black Ops or Battlefield 3. It's good to see the haters proven wrong. Maybe next time they will just wait until games are release and just say, "I think this other game is better." At least that is just their opinion and not a load of BS.

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        December 12, 2011 7:33 PM

        actually they were saying bf3 was a btter game, and if you havent noticed...it is, everybody knew mw would sell more that was never the question. people cant help themselves in buying rehashed garbage is all this says to me

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        December 12, 2011 7:56 PM

        so you feel vindicated? This game you have chosen to be a fan of made a ton of money so you feel good by association?

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        December 12, 2011 11:43 PM

        How about all fanboys can suck a fat dick instead? It's better for everyone.

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      December 12, 2011 8:21 PM

      My roomie owns bf3 and mw3, but since mw3 has come out he only plays that.

      console noob.

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