Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 grosses over half a billion in sales in first five days

November 19, 6:44 AMConsole Game ExaminerDavid Stonecipher

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Modern Warfare 2, Infinity Ward and Activision

Activision announced that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 shattered  all five-day sales records in not only video games but across all media (including theatrical box office and book sales).  Of course, one has to point out that movies and books are a different animal than video games.  Each containing their own pricing, costs, and standards so there's no real statement to gather from cross-media other than trivial statistics but records crushed under MW2's sales are:

- 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)

Activision also provided a rundown of usage statistics for Modern Warfare 2 on Xbox Live during launch day alone, stating 2.2 million gamers played 5.2 million multiplayer hours and unlocked more than 11 million achievements in the first 24 hours.