'Call of Duty: Black Ops' Video Game Sales Soar Past $1 Billion
Activision Blizzard's (ATVI) "Call of Duty: Black Ops" video game has surpassed $1 billion in global sales since its Nov. 9 release, making it the fastest-selling video game in history, the company said Tuesday.
The only other entertainment title to reach the $1 billion mark within the same timeframe was the late-2009 Fox film release of "Avatar," which has grossed almost $2.8 billion in global box-office receipts, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com.
Black Ops's performance spells good news for a video-game industry that has been hampered this year by falling sales. Many cash-strapped gamers have opted to either buy used games or play free titles online instead of buying new games.
With the Activision release, however, the industry showed signs of life just in time for the holiday season. U.S. gaming software sales in November increased 4% from a year earlier after declining 7% for the first 10 months of the year, according to NPD Group.
Earlier, "Call of Duty: Black Ops" set a five-day videogame sales record when it generated more than $650 million in global sales during the five days after its Nov. 9 release. The new game broke the $550 million record set by Activision's "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" last year, the company said last month.
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