How much money do you think Call of Duty: Ghosts made in its first day? Well, that’s a foolish question because I spoiled it for you in the title of this article. The FPS giant made over a billion dollars in its first day. Yes, that’s a billion, with a b, a very large b. However, it should be noted that these sales are in-house, meaning that this is the amount Activision has made shipping the game to retail stores, and not the money customers have spent on it.
“Call of Duty is by far the largest console franchise of this generation,” said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, “More people have played Call of Duty this year than ever before, logging four billion hours of gameplay. And in the last 12 months, Call of Duty®: Black Ops II, including its digital content, generated more revenues than any other console game ever has in a single year. Although it is too early to assess sell-through for Call of Duty: Ghosts, it’s launching at a time when the franchise has never been more popular.”
The release of Call of Duty: Ghosts is so strong that Doug Creutz of Cowen & Company called the game “review proof.” Like Madden’s yearly sports titles, little changes year to year with Call of Duty releases. Thus, reviewers will start to give it lower and lower scores, while dedicated fanbases will continue to buy it nonetheless. Call of Duty truly is one of the most loved and influential franchises of our time.
Source: Activision Press Release, Gamesindustry