If the studios are banking on a young male audience this weekend — as they have said – they could be in trouble.
All those guys are playing “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.”
The latest installment of the hugely popular video game franchise became the biggest video game launch ever with $400 million in first-day sales from 6.5 million units.
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"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," Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, Inc, said in a statement. "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."
As Kotick references, this is the second time a “Call of Duty” title has broken its own record. “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” set a day-one record with $310 million in sales back in 2009 and last year “Call of Duty: Black Ops” hit an estimated $360 million in sales.
“’Call of Duty’ is more than a game,” Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Pubishing, said in a statement. “It's become a major part of the pop cultural landscape. It is a game that core enthusiasts love, but that also consistently draws new people into the medium. It is the most intense, adrenaline pumping entertainment experience anywhere.”