Modern Warfare 3 Rakes It In: $400 Million in 24 Hours

This past weekend, it seemed like all anyone could talk about was Skyrim and how amazing the game is. Still, Skyrim is not the only title that has gamers whipped into a frenzy as of late. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is also doing pretty well for itself, pulling in an astonishing $400 million in the first day of British and American sales.

Activision on Friday announced that Modern Warfare 3, which launched last Wednesday, had broken records to become the biggest entertainment launch ever with an estimated sell-through of more than 6.5 million units in North America and the United Kingdom.

This marks the third consecutive year that the COD franchise has set day-one launch records across all forms of entertainment. Last year, Call of Duty: Black Ops had estimated day-one sell-through of $360 million (again, U.S. and UK), and in 2009, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 raked in $310 million on the first day.

"We believe the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is the biggest entertainment launch of all time in any medium, and we achieved this record with sales from only two territories," said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. "Other than Call of Duty, there has never been another entertainment franchise that has set opening day records three years in a row. Life-to-date sales for the Call of Duty franchise exceed worldwide theatrical box office for 'Star Wars' and 'Lord of the Rings,' two of the most successful entertainment franchises of all time."

Did you buy MW3 on launch day? Let us know in the comments below!

This thread is closed for comments

79 comments

Comment from the forums

Your comment

pooflinger1

Did not, and will not buy it. I do not see why I should spend money on what is really just CoD4.3. BF3 got my money.
Goldengoose

Worn out franchise strikes again!
singemagique

I enjoyed the campaign for MW2, but was left unimpressed by the frantic, arcade style online play. BF3 provides a much more enjoyable multiplayer experience, in my opinion, and was, instead of MW3, what I chose to buy.
theonlydz

Most expensive DLC you can buy.
ricdiculus

or aliens or artificial intelligence F*** You!
first, and it sucks. waste of $60.
upgrade_1977

BF3 "shipped" 10,000,000 units it's first day, multiplied by $59.00 = 590 Million...

So.. How is that breaking records?
and yet it has already gotten hacked to death for online play, the vac system is easily overcome, and the dev's or the company don't even care to make a enjoyable online experience..same crap in a different wrapper and the dense population will still buy it thinking it will be different....
commandersozo

I've played some multiplayer, it was like MW2 except all patched up. It seems you still can't do splitscreen system link, like Halo has been doing for years. I'll never buy a game by Activision, and Bobby Kotick is the gaming anti-Christ. Peace out.
lenell86

6.5 mil noobs
upgrade_1977

I have BF3, , no need to buy any other FPS for at least a few years....
inzone

Well , Ihave to say that I got both BF3 and MW3 and I do enjoy playing MW3 more than BF3. I do like the tanks in BF3 but the jets and choppers are hard to fly. By not having the vehicles to drive MW3 concentrates on the weapons and they have a better weapon selection and usage.
upgrade_1977

Seems like every game breaks records, depending on "How" you look at the sales.
molo9000

Why are people so stupid? 60bucks for the exact same game every 12 months....

I would probably buy Black Ops if they reduced the price to 15-20bucks. I know it's shallow and stupid, but it's still fun in a fast-food kind of way.
Lonecontrol

I haven't played a COD since MW2 but I still think they deserve all this success. They have made great games, even if its the same formula over and over, obviously people want and will pay for an updated version every year. Kudos to the dev teams.
Parsian

i wonder if the Apple users overlap with with COD players... Both are getting milked and they have no clue...
STravis

That's some pretty amazing numbers...how much did the game cost to produce?
spookie

upgrade_1977BF3 "shipped" 10,000,000 units it's first day, multiplied by $59.00 = 590 Million... So.. How is that breaking records?

Shipping and selling are two different things!!
Yuka

Waiting for a cheap copy at Steam 8)

Cheers!
darkchazz

It's the same crap that's been going on since mw1 and mw2 , repackaged into a new $60 game when it really should be no more than a $20 dlc for mw2....
I mean, it plays exactly like mw2 , they recycled lots of weapons, animations, models, buildings, textures, sounds, and even the menus from the previous mw games..
The engine is terribly dated, for a AAA 2011 game this is unusual, it looks like a game from 2007.

The singleplayer is boring, 3 hour cliche linear corridor over-the-top Michael bay style with explosions every few seconds to distract you from the poor visuals, the intense moments are either scripted events or cutscenes, and the story is forgettable near the end...
The multiplayer is exactly like mw2 but with a few extra modes, the maps are like little mazes; there are always walls a few meters between you and no open areas, all you do is run run die-> run run shoot die , the spawn system is still broken you spawn with enemies behind you and such, they still have the overpowered killstreaks and perks that give people an advantage over one another, the tactical nuke from mw2 has been replaced with another game ruining killstreak..

What a waste of money and another cash-in for activision , better save your hard earned money for better games like skyrim and BF3.
DroKing

LOL izombies for stupid apple fans. I need to come up with a name for stupid cod fans.
oh dear!
the marios of the Pc
vertigo_2000

I bought COD: MW and loved it. One of the better games I've played.
Then I bought COD: World at War and thought, "Hmm... very similar to the last one, just WW2 themed. Oh well, still fun!"
Then I bought COD: MW2 and thought, "Wow. I just bought the same game 3 times. Not as fun as the original."
Then they started advertising Black Ops and I thought, "There is no way in he*ll I'm buying the same game 4 times." Now COD: MW3 is out and there's no way I'm spending any $$$ on it.
mouse24

I miss good games with good story lines, like Max Payne 1 + 2 and GTA VC

Display All 79 comments

Display more comments