The game has actually performed worse than Modern Warfare 3

Dec 11, 2012 08:50 GMT  ·  By

Video game publisher Activision Blizzard has recently claimed that Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 has managed to sell enough games to deliver revenue of 1 billion dollars (773 million Euro). One analyst, however, believes that the company has distorted the data and sales for the series are actually in decline.

James Hardiman, an analyst working with Longbow Research, tells MCV that, “We do not believe that Activision did itself any favours by putting out a press release touting that Black Ops II had crossed $1bn in just 15 days faster than the 16 days required for Modern Warfare 3 to reach the $1bn mark.”

“What management did not mention is the fact that with an earlier release date, Modern Warfare 3 was able to reach $1bn a day before Thanksgiving, whereas Black Ops II was not able to get there until after Cyber Monday,” he adds.

In terms of actual sales, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 has managed to move 4.5 million copies on the Xbox 360 and another 2.9 million on the PlayStation 3 since it was launched, on November 13.

By the same date in 2011, its predecessor, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, created combined sales of 8.8 million units.

The Call of Duty series from Activision Blizzard has long claimed the title of best-selling game of the year, managing to even challenge other entertainment industry blockbusters, like Avatar and The Dark Knight Rises.

Activision is keen to project a solid image for Black Ops 2 and presumably a clear picture about its sales performance will only emerge once March 31 of next year comes and Activision releases its full financial results for the year.

Rumors are already talking about Infinity Ward and the work it is doing in the next game in the Call of Duty series, which will be launched next fall.