Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Celebrates Record-Breaking Opening With $800 Million

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is celebrating record-breaking sales during its opening weekend. Activision revealed that the worldwide sell-through, for the first three days, since its October 28 launch has crossed $800 million (about Rs. 6,615 crore). This marks the biggest opening sales in the franchise’s history, beating out 2011’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, which managed $775 million (about Rs. 6,409 crore) within the first five days. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is out now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X.

“Thank you to our talented team that has created magic through extraordinary artistry and technology, and to the global community of players who find joy and connection through Call of Duty. This milestone belongs to them,” Bobby Kotick, CEO Activision Blizzard, said in a prepared statement. As usual, the publisher has tried comparing Call of Duty’s sales to other forms of media.

Citing box office numbers, Activision claimed that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 outperformed the opening weekends for both Top Gun: Maverick and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness combined. The Tom Cruise-led film collected nearly $250 million (about Rs. 2,067 crore) at the global box office in its first three days. Whereas the Marvel Cinematic Universe film opened to $450 million (about Rs. 3,721 crore). The total comes to $700 million (about Rs. 5,789 crore), granting the publisher bragging rights.

It’s worth mentioning that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II costs Rs. 4,999/ $70, while movie tickets are way cheaper, even outside India. Additionally, game launches are not restricted by theatrical capacity, as tends to be the case for movies.

“Thank you, Call of Duty players, for making Modern Warfare II’s launch one for the record books as well as the highest-grossing entertainment opening of the year. It is our honour and privilege to deliver such a historic launch weekend for the best fans in the world,” said Johanna Faries, General Manager, Call of Duty in a statement. Developed by Infinity Ward, the latest title is a sequel to the 2019 reboot, dropping the familiar operators of Task Force 141 in the midst of an unprecedented global conflict.

The studio reportedly has a planned expansion to its single-player campaign segment in late 2023, alongside multiplayer maps from previous entries in the franchise. The year 2023 will not see a mainline Call of Duty launch, instead shifting to an “always on” live service model with a two-year life cycle. As per Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, we won’t see a new CoD until 2024, albeit technically speaking, we’ve got Warzone 2.0 dropping on November 16, adding the new Al Mazrah map and underwater combat.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is out now across PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X.