‘Call of Duty: Black Ops’ Breaks Another Record, Grosses $650 Million in Five Days

I’m playing it. You’re playing it. Millions and millions of other people are playing it. More to the point, millions and millions of people are buying it . . . and in record numbers. As we told you before, Call of Duty: Black Ops sold very well, to put it mildly, in its first day of release.

Now, the game has broken another record and made over $650 Million in just five days. I’ll let that number sink in for a minute. This amount of sales breaks the previous record of $550 Million in five days set last year by Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Also a great game but now, just second best.

“Call of Duty has become the first entertainment property in history to set five-day launch records for two consecutive years across all forms of entertainment,” said Activision Blizzard CEO, Robert Kotick in the release. ”The title’s success illustrates the mass appeal of interactive entertainment as millions of consumers are choosing to play Call of Duty: Black Ops at unprecedented levels rather than engage in other forms of media.”

For more on this announcement, click through for the full press release.

Call of Duty®: Black Ops Sets New Five Day Entertainment Industry Record Grossing More Than $650 Million Worldwide

Largest Entertainment Launch in History Establishes New Xbox® LIVE™ Record with 2.6 Million Unique Players in One Day
Call of Duty: Black Ops Was Best-Selling Video Game Launch of All Time on Amazon.com and at GameStop

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Nov. 18, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) announced today that Treyarch’s Call of Duty®: Black Ops has shattered theatrical box office, book and video game sales records for five-day worldwide sell through in dollars. The game established an all-new five-day worldwide sell-through record of more than $650 million, exceeding Activision’s previous five-day worldwide record of $550 million set by last year’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare® 2, according to internal Activision estimates.

“Call of Duty has become the first entertainment property in history to set five-day launch records for two consecutive years across all forms of entertainment,” said Robert Kotick, CEO, Activision Blizzard. “The title’s success illustrates the mass appeal of interactive entertainment as millions of consumers are choosing to play Call of Duty: Black Ops at unprecedented levels rather than engage in other forms of media. The number of people playing online and the number of hours they are playing demonstrates how online gaming has become a mainstream form of entertainment and certainly validates Activision Blizzard’s leadership role in online entertainment.”

“There are many reasons for the success of Black Ops, but first and foremost is the fact that our team at Treyarch delivered a truly awesome game, and in the process have established themselves as one of the most talented developers in the world,” said Eric Hirshberg, CEO, Activision Publishing. “There are millions of people all over the world engaging in this community. It’s our job to keep them coming back for more.”

In addition to beating all previous first-and five-day box office, book and video game sell-through records, Call of Duty: Black Ops set two new records on Xbox® LIVE™.

According to Microsoft:

More than 5.9 million multiplayer hours were logged playing Call of Duty: Black Ops by end of launch day, November 9.
More than 2.6 million unique gamers played Call of Duty: Black Ops in one day on November 9.

“With a record breaking performance on Xbox LIVE, home to the world’s largest Call of Duty gaming community, Call of Duty: Black Ops has already carved out its legacy as one of the biggest video games in history,” said Don Mattrick, president of the interactive entertainment business at Microsoft. “We congratulate our partners at Activision and Treyarch and are proud to continue offering the best Call of Duty experience to our 25 million global Xbox LIVE members by launching all Call of Duty map packs first on Xbox 360.”

The game also was a tremendous success on the PlayStation® 3 and the best-selling video game launch of all time on Amazon.com and at GameStop.

“Call of Duty: Black Ops has been an incredible success on PlayStation 3,” said Jack Tretton, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA). “Treyarch’s latest efforts are driving unprecedented traffic to the PlayStation Network with the flagship online experience this holiday season.”

“Call of Duty: Black Ops had the highest number of pre-orders of any video game to date,” said Paul Raines, CEO, GameStop. “It went on to become our biggest video game launch ever, which bodes well for game sales as we enter the holidays.”

Activision is excited about the performance of Call of Duty: Black Ops, but given that it is still very early in the holiday shopping season, the company remains cautiously optimistic.

Call of Duty: Black Ops is rated “M” (Mature) by the ESRB for Blood, Drug Reference, Intense Violence and Language. For additional information visit www.callofduty.com/blackops and also via Twitter @JD_2020.

About Activision Publishing, Inc.

Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Publishing, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products.

Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, South Korea, China and the region of Taiwan. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company’s website, www.activision.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Activision Publishing’s expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Activision Publishing generally uses words such as “outlook,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “might,” “remains,” “to be,” “plans,” “believes,” “may,” “expects,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “estimate,” future,” “plan,” “positioned,” “potential,” “project,” “remain,” “scheduled,” “set to,” “subject to,” “upcoming” and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause Activision Publishing’s actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this release include, but are not limited to, sales levels of Activision Publishing’s titles, shifts in consumer spending trends, the impact of the current macroeconomic environment, the seasonal and cyclical nature of the interactive game market, Activision Publishing’s ability to predict consumer preferences among competing hardware platforms, declines in software pricing, product returns and price protection, product delays, retail acceptance of Activision Publishing’s products, adoption rate and availability of new hardware (including peripherals) and related software, industry competition including from used games and other forms of entertainment, litigation risks and associated costs, rapid changes in technology, industry standards, business models including online and used games, and consumer preferences, including interest in specific genres such as music, first-person action and massively multiplayer online games, protection of proprietary rights, maintenance of relationships with key personnel, customers, licensees, licensors, vendors, and third-party developers, including the ability to attract, retain and develop key personnel and developers that can create high quality “hit” titles, counterparty risks relating to customers, licensees, licensors and manufacturers, domestic and international economic, financial and political conditions and policies, foreign exchange rates and tax rates, and the identification of suitable future acquisition opportunities and potential challenges associated with geographic expansion, and the other factors identified in the risk factors sections of Activision Blizzard’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to Activision Publishing and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and neither Activision Publishing nor Activision Blizzard assumes any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of Activision Publishing or Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.