By Courtney Tuchman
Since 2003, the Call of Duty Franchise has raked in $10 billion in revenue. Despite these numbers, Activision has yet to release sales numbers for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.
Bobby Kotick, the CEO of Activision Blizzard, claims that Advanced Warfare has been a smashing hit, “Since Activision created the Call of Duty franchise in 2003, franchise revenues have exceeded $10 billion in sales worldwide, far exceeding box office receipts for such household movie franchises as Hunger Games, Transformers, Iron Man and Avengers, combined," said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. "Advanced Warfare is the biggest entertainment launch of 2014 in terms of revenue, surpassing all movie, music and book launches this year.”
Although Kotick boasts large success, the concrete numbers still aren’t present. With previous COD games, Kotick instantly reported on the games’ successes. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 earned $310 million within is first day on the market in the U.S. and Europe while Modern Warfare 3 pulled in $400 million in the U.S. and Europe during the same time frame. Black Ops 2 earned $500 million during its first day.
The CEO of Activision Publishing Inc., Eric Hirshberg says, “We poured our hearts into making Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare an epic ride, and we are pleased with the performance. Sales and engagement are up through the first week compared to last year. Season Pass sales are up, as well. The game has been very positively reviewed and the response from fans has been tremendous. We believe Advanced Warfare will be the most successful game of the year and we thank our fans for making it the biggest entertainment launch of the year.”
When the underwhelming Ghosts was released, Activision would only talk about how many copies were sent to retailers. Now, Activision follows a similar pattern by stating that Advanced Warfare grossed more than other entertainment media this year and that it has earned more in its first week than Ghosts did.
Even though the numbers have yet to be released, Activision claims Advanced Warfare is the “highest-selling digital launch in console history.” The claim was made according to Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, and Activision’s own estimates.
Player time numbers have been released. More than 370 million online matches and 200 million level ups in online multiplayer have occurred within the first week after launch, according to Activision.
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Source: Polygon
Image: Polygon