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Never say Na’vi: MW3 Hits $1B Sales in 16 Days, Breaks Avatar’s Record
It’s Monday, so that means more news about how Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has made lots of money. And I mean a lot of friggin’ monies.
According to a press release published this morning, Modern Warfare crossed the $1 billion sales mark only 16 days after its release on November 8. That figure makes Activision’s shooter the only entertainment property to have beaten James Cameron’s Avatar’s record, which itself hit the $1 billion mark in 17 days.
(Again, while I’m not saying this isn’t damned impressive, let’s all remember that the point of entry on MW3 is still sixty bucks, whereas even the most expensive ticket to see Avatar in 3D wasn’t more than $15 or $16.)
Activision points out that this record breaker is good for all of gaming:
“While 2011 box office revenue is on the decline – down 4 percent this year at $9.4 billion, compared with $9.8 billion in 2010 — the number of people purchasing and participating in gaming is on the rise, with no sign of slowing. With more than 30 million gamers, the Call of Duty community now exceeds the combined populations of the cities of New York, London, Tokyo, Paris and Madrid.”
The film comparisons don’t stop there, either. The press release puts Call of Duty in that “rarified group of sustained franchises like ‘Star Wars,’ ‘Harry Potter,’ [and] ‘Lord of the Rings.’” Like those franchises, it says, Call of Duty “attract[s] or engage[s] tens of millions of people every year or every new release.”
So far, so true. Black Ops broke all the gaming records last year—but can Activision sustain this kind of momentum? What the heck’s gonna come out next year? Is it just straight up Modern Warfare 4? And after this year’s super-saturation of games, will gamers keep shelling out their dollars for the next release…or will this year’s over-crowded release schedule cause something of a buying fatigue among the gaming public? What do you think…are you going to buy the next Call of Duty release and keep Activision rolling in dough?
Regardless of all of this speculation, everyone involved in making Modern Warfare 3 deserve a round of applause. And then they should buy us all steaks. I haven’t had a good steak in a while, and, c’mon, you can afford it. Don’t be a cheapskate.
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Let’s not forget that “good sales” do not equal a “good game”.
It has just catered more to the casual market than ever before and has cashed in big time on the soccer moms, overworked daddies and the 14-year olds who wants it for birthdays and Christmas.
The hype is also a big factor in this. Hype is probably the biggest factor when it comes to sales. That, and bribed good reviews from major sites.
Admit it, MW3 is just a humongous Map pack for MW2, and even that game wasn’t very innovative or revolutionary. I’m not saying this as a Battlefield gamer either, or a PC gamer for that matter. I’m merely stating the pathetically obvious facts here. :P
So true
So very very true lol
I agreed with you up until “bribe good reviews from major sites.”
That’s just retarded.
Have you ever wondered why the games that get massive advertising on certain sites get good reviews there as well? It’s money directly into the hands of the review sites. If the game however doesn’t get a good review on that site, the publishers can threaten to cut the money-pump and they’ll no longer get their desired cold cash.
“We get a good review, you get some cash. You don’t give us a good review, we’ll not give you money next time we advertise.”
It’s indirect bribing, that is something you cannot deny.
I completely agree. I think what really is their driving force at this point, is what consumers know they are getting. It’s not some original title or a sequel with some new tech, it’s the same thing. It also helps that you might get 10 shitty games in a row, but that game where you do great it, keeps you playing and playing. The game doesn’t really revolve around too much skill, making it so easy to pick up and play for as you said, soccer moms and over worked dads.
If it ain;t broke don;t fix it, quit hating.
Why would I want to waste $60 dollars on something a ‘new’ CoD when the others aren’t broken, then?
Why would anyone buy a bad game then hmmmmm?
I bought the game, only because I just love the close quarter combat that Battlefield doesn’t provide. I also don’t have a lot of friends who plays fps, so I love the fact that I don’t need team work to win in this game.
But this will be my last one. Not because of nothing new or how bad the game is. I am just getting tired of the warfare genre and COD series. With its dark and gritty colors, annoying camping, glitches and bugs, its becoming really depressing to play them. Gonna stick with Halo for a couple of years, or until they do something new
Completely agree. I prefer Call of Duty because I prefer the heart racing action that I get from basically running and shooting the guy before he shoots me. And I feel even more excited when I know that I’m on my way to a pretty big killstreak.
Just like the guy I’m replying to, this’ll be my last one. With my approach to university, I’m not going to have time to engross myself to get to the highest prestige. ( Weird leveling addiction that I have when it comes to video games.) It’s also the same as Black Ops and MW2, so after 3 years of FPS, I think for now I’m done. In terms of gaming, I’ll go play JRPGs and look at the other FPS games, and check CoD once in awhile. You know, assuming that its still around and not ran into the ground like Guitar Hero. ( I think that was the game that Activision stopped making.)
I bought the game not becuz other people got it, I got it becuz i love the story adn love the way they ended it, IW=awsome
I’m not going to buy it to keep Activision rolling in the dough or because I’m some sheep who thinks it’s the greatest game ever, I’m going to buy it because I enjoy the Call of Duty series. It’s never really disappointed me, because I know exactly what to expect when I’m going in.
I don’t know if I will get another COD, seems to be very tedious, until they do something “new,” and “revolutionary,” as well as live up to its damn hype then I will go get it. I’m still getting it since some of my friend still play CoD and I want to play with them online obviously, so I guess I’m stuck on buying them until everybody is sick of it.
Bought it, enjoy it, people just keep bitching that its a bad game, but considering its press reviews its over 1 Billion and sales they still continue to claim its terrible (ie people are STILL buying it) has to say something…
Some people don’t pre-order or stand in queue for midnight releases. Some people get it recommended by friends and without looking more into it buy for that only reason. Some just don’t want to pay more at release and wait for the price to drop a little. I know my local stores lower prices significantly shortly after release. Also, some copies are kept for Christmas presents, some for birthday presents some for resale on Ebay and whatnot.
Also, even if the numbers look impressive, not everyone who bought it, currently plays it. In fact, last time I saw the counter on Steam, the number was much, much lower than Skyrim, Team Fortress 2, Counter Strike and Terraria.
It’s a console prioritized game, so most copies are of course sold on the consoles, but I still think more people play Skyrim or BF3 currently than MW3. Sales in that regard don’t mean jack s***!
You have your sales to brag with, congratulations, but it doesn’t mean your game is good or actually has any replay value at all to boast with.
WHAT IS YOUR POINT? That entire wall of text and the conclusion has nothing to do with the first 90% of what you posted…
And all those first things you posted can apply to other games as well, but they DON’T… wonder why that is?
I’m proud to say I’ve never given Call of Duty a penny out of my wallet or a second of my time.
Oh look, more CoD sales related news I don’t care about.
Seriously, bottom line is:
Sales, does not = Quality.
You summed it up perfectly.
Not a fan of the game, but I’m thankful that someone finally put Avatar in it’s place. That movie was more over-hyped than, well… MW3.
A lot of people argue over the series, but it goes like this:
If you have played the game since cod 4 or before and black ops and mw2 didn’t do anything for you, this won’t either. And people are right, sales are not going to keep this game being played as soon as the next one comes out.
To be perfectly honest, they really cannot top MW3. What can honestly be bigger then a full world war? Unless it is in space and if so, they will have lost the entire plot
The last CoD game I brought was MW2. Black ops didnt interest me and neither does MW3.
I can safely say I grew up playing Call of Duty, (as well as other games of course) Call of Duty Finest Hour was the first I played and I have always thought it was a great series. While I can still easily agree with many people that Call of Duty (after Call of Duty World At War) has never really been an ‘innovating’ or ‘revolutionary’ experience and I can also agree that it is one ‘large map pack’ as some may state. But, the only thing that has me coming back is that it is just pure mindless fun.
I understand people like innovation, but you have to look at facts, without next-gens that still won’t be out for another couple years. We have to face the facts that innovating games won’t be coming for a while. While Call of Duty may be far from innovating, at least it is fun right? I thought that is what gaming was about, having fun. It may feel the same, but at least the community for every game in its series is active day to day. You will always find people to play with, so Call of Duty must have some replay-ability, does it not.
The point I’m making is you can hate on Call of Duty all you want, but even you must know that it is still a fun game, despite all the odds. As for the sales being high, there are still a lot of those sales that people may actually think its a good series, fanboys and gamers alike.
[...] IPP (Intellectual Property Protection) Patents, Trademarks (TM) and Copyrights are the three basic forms of IPP. This is serious, the game industry is a very competitive and lucrative one. A proof of that is the fact that MW3 just beat Avatar as the most lucrative entertainment product in history. [...]