The game has once again broken sales records, according to Activision

Nov 16, 2012 13:39 GMT  ·  By

Activision has released the first figures for its recently launched Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 first-person shooter, confirming that the game has earned over $500 million (€392M) in its first 24 hours of availability worldwide.

Black Ops 2 was eagerly awaited by millions of fans from all over the world and Activision made sure to get them excited about the new shooter through several videos and live action, celebrity-filled commercials.

Now, after several retailers confirmed that Black Ops 2 sold millions of copies during its first day of availability, Activision has arrived with official figures, confirming that the game has managed to rake in over $500 million worldwide in the first 24 hours of its release.

“With first day sales of over half a billion dollars worldwide, we believe Call of Duty is the biggest entertainment launch of the year for the fourth year in a row,” said Bobby Kotick, CEO, Activision Blizzard, in a statement.

“Life-to-date sales for the Call of Duty franchise have exceeded worldwide theatrical box office receipts for “Harry Potter” and “Star Wars,” the two most successful movie franchises of all time.”

According to Activision, over 16,000 midnight launches were organized on November 13 at retail stores worldwide, as the game became the most talked about thing on Twitter and other social networks.

“Call of Duty has become more than a product people buy, it's a brand people buy into. And every November we do more than just the launch of a game, we kick off an annual, unofficial but worldwide phenomenon called the Call of Duty season,” said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing.

“I want to thank our incredible team at Treyarch for making an amazing game, everyone at Activision for making this brand a force of nature and our retail partners for their unprecedented support of this franchise. But most importantly I want to thank our millions of fans for their continued support and loyalty and for making us better every day.”

Activision didn’t say just how many units were sold in the game’s first day of availability and declined to say if it had become the newest fastest selling game in the series.

This profit will only increase on Sunday, November 18, when Black Ops 2 is released alongside the Nintendo Wii U in North America.