Call of Duty: Black Ops has surpassed the $1 billion worldwide sales mark after just six weeks of availability, Activision announced today.
That milestone joins a growing number of impressive feats the title has enjoyed since its launch on November 9.
In just its first day of availability, Call of Duty: Black Ops tallied $360 million in worldwide revenue, easily besting its predecessor, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which generated $310 million on its launch day.
The game then followed that up with the biggest entertainment launch in history, making $650 million in its first five days of availability. Modern Warfare 2 made $550 million during its first five days on store shelves.
It took Modern Warfare 2 until January–approximately two months–to reach the $1 billion worldwide sales figure Black Ops surpassed in six weeks.
Beyond the point of sale, Black Ops continues to impress. Activision reported today that gamers have played the game for more than 600 million hours online. Microsoft, which furnished Xbox Live figures to Activision, told the publisher that the average player typically plays Black Ops online more than once a day for over one hour at a time.
There was little doubt that Black Ops would be an online-gaming winner, considering how successful Modern Warfare 2 was on Xbox Live. But how easily it bested Modern Warfare 2 revenue figures is somewhat surprising, given how impressive its predecessor’s sales were.
Perhaps now the question is whether the next Call of Duty release, scheduled to launch in 2011, can keep that success streak going. Time will tell.