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“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II” broke franchise records, as Activision confirmed the game’s sell-through surpassed $1 billion in just 10 days. The latest mainline series installment, developed by Infinity Ward, is now the franchise’s fastest-selling title.
The milestone comes after “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II” saw a strong opening weekend following its launch last Oct. 28. Activision said the game’s sales crossed $800 million in its first three days in the market.
The early success of “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II” was also observed in player engagement. Since its launch, Activision said players across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox platforms have completed 1 billion matches and have played more than 200 million hours.
“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II” dethroned the “Black Ops II” title, which reached the same milestone 15 days after it was released in 2012. Activision expects to keep this momentum with the upcoming “Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0” launching on Wednesday, Nov. 16.
Following its opening weekend, Sony also confirmed “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II” saw the franchise’s biggest launch ever on PlayStation. While the company did not provide specific numbers, Sony says the milestones took into account PS4 and PS5 pre-orders and launch day sales.
Sony’s announcement was followed by Phil Spencer’s interview on the Same Brain podcast, where the Microsoft gaming chief reiterated there are no plans to remove “Call of Duty” from PlayStation once the Activision Blizzard acquisition is finalized. “As long as there's a PlayStation out there to ship to, our intent is that we'll continue to ship ‘Call of Duty’ on PlayStation,” Spencer said. “Similar to what we've done with ‘Minecraft’ since we owned that.”
Microsoft is in the process of acquiring Activision Blizzard for nearly $69 billion. But regulators in major markets have raised concerns that it could substantially reduce competition, as the merger could lead to Microsoft making future “Call of Duty” games exclusive to Xbox consoles and services.
“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II” is a direct follow-up to the 2019 “Modern Warfare” reboot. The latest installment re-established Task Force 141 with fan-favorite Operators Capt. John Price and Lt. Simon “Ghost” Riley.
