Steffen_Shook November 19, 2009 Entertainment, PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 98 views Comments Print This Post  Email This Post

Modern Warfare 2 broke records in the UK last week, but official word on a North American tally was not in. Activision has since gotten the numbers in and, as expected, they are quite ridiculous. In the first five days of sale, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 had a sell-through of approximately $550 million which is unquestionably the largest entertainment launch in history.

If you do not believe me, Activision proudly compiled the list of records that they beat, with all of entertainment covered:

* The largest reported five-day opening worldwide box office gross figures, held by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ($394 million)
* The largest reported five-day opening domestic box office gross figures, held by The Dark Knight ($203.8 million)
* The largest reported five-day worldwide video game sales record, previously held by Grand Theft Auto IV (6 million units, $500 million)
* The largest reported opening first-day domestic box office gross figures, held by The Dark Knight ($66.4 million)
* The largest reported first-day book sales in dollars, held by Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows ($220 million)
* The largest reported first-day worldwide video game sales record, previously held by Grand Theft Auto IV (3.6 million units, $310 million)

Consumers’ pocketbooks were not the only thing that saw the power of Modern Warfare 2; Xbox Live, to say the least, had more activity than usual. Infinity Ward has alot to brag about:

* More than 5.2 million multiplayer hours were logged playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on the first day alone.
* More than 2.2 million unique gamers played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in one day on November 10th. A new one-day record for Xbox LIVE.
* More than 11 million achievements were unlocked on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on the first day.

Robert Kotick, the CEO of Activision Blizzard, is undoubtedly pleased with MW2’s success and said “In just five days of sell through Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has become the largest entertainment launch in history and a pop culture phenomenon. The title’s success redefines entertainment as millions of consumers have chosen to play Modern Warfare 2 at unprecedented levels rather engage in other forms of media.”

So what you are saying is that they just want to play video games? And alot of them?