Call Of Duty: Black Ops Hits $650 Million In 5 Days

In a formal announcement that some probably saw coming from a mile away, Activision announced that Call of Duty: Black Ops has continued to break records, and has officially managed to rake in $650 million worth of sales in the first five days of being on sale. It would be impressive enough to be just another video game record, but just as they did with the first record breaking 24 hours, this breaks entertainment records as a whole.

As Activision puts it, Call of Duty: Black Ops is part of the "first entertainment property in history to set five-day records for two consecutive years across all forms of entertainment." The Activision Blizzard CEO is of course referencing the company's other previous mega-hit, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. That previous title managed to bring in $550 million in its first five days.

And while Activision is busy breaking records, so is Microsoft, thanks to their Xbox LIVE service. According to Microsoft, Black Ops managed to bring in a record 2.6 million unique players on day one, who of which managed to log in 5.9 million multiplayer hours. And, if you've been hoping for a patch, the first official title update for the game has been released today, for both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions. Check out the full press release below.

Press Release

Largest Entertainment Launch in History Establishes New Xbox® LIVE™ Record with 2.6 Million Unique Players in One Day

Call of Duty: Black Ops Was Best-Selling Video Game Launch of All Time on Amazon.com and at GameStop

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Nov. 18, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) announced today that Treyarch's Call of Duty®: Black Ops has shattered theatrical box office, book and video game sales records for five-day worldwide sell through in dollars. The game established an all-new five-day worldwide sell-through record of more than $650 million, exceeding Activision's previous five-day worldwide record of $550 million set by last year's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare® 2, according to internal Activision estimates.

"Call of Duty has become the first entertainment property in history to set five-day launch records for two consecutive years across all forms of entertainment," said Robert Kotick, CEO, Activision Blizzard. "The title's success illustrates the mass appeal of interactive entertainment as millions of consumers are choosing to play Call of Duty: Black Ops at unprecedented levels rather than engage in other forms of media. The number of people playing online and the number of hours they are playing demonstrates how online gaming has become a mainstream form of entertainment and certainly validates Activision Blizzard's leadership role in online entertainment."

"There are many reasons for the success of Black Ops, but first and foremost is the fact that our team at Treyarch delivered a truly awesome game, and in the process have established themselves as one of the most talented developers in the world," said Eric Hirshberg, CEO, Activision Publishing. "There are millions of people all over the world engaging in this community. It's our job to keep them coming back for more."

In addition to beating all previous first-and five-day box office, book and video game sell-through records, Call of Duty: Black Ops set two new records on Xbox® LIVE™.

According to Microsoft:

•More than 5.9 million multiplayer hours were logged playing Call of Duty: Black Ops by end of launch day, November 9.

•More than 2.6 million unique gamers played Call of Duty: Black Ops in one day on November 9.

"With a record breaking performance on Xbox LIVE, home to the world's largest Call of Duty gaming community, Call of Duty: Black Ops has already carved out its legacy as one of the biggest video games in history," said Don Mattrick, president of the interactive entertainment business at Microsoft. "We congratulate our partners at Activision and Treyarch and are proud to continue offering the best Call of Duty experience to our 25 million global Xbox LIVE members by launching all Call of Duty map packs first on Xbox 360."

The game also was a tremendous success on the PlayStation® 3 and the best-selling video game launch of all time on Amazon.com and at GameStop.

"Call of Duty: Black Ops has been an incredible success on PlayStation 3," said Jack Tretton, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA). "Treyarch's latest efforts are driving unprecedented traffic to the PlayStation Network with the flagship online experience this holiday season."

"Call of Duty: Black Ops had the highest number of pre-orders of any video game to date," said Paul Raines, CEO, GameStop. "It went on to become our biggest video game launch ever, which bodes well for game sales as we enter the holidays."

Activision is excited about the performance of Call of Duty: Black Ops, but given that it is still very early in the holiday shopping season, the company remains cautiously optimistic.

Call of Duty: Black Ops is rated "M" (Mature) by the ESRB for Blood, Drug Reference, Intense Violence and Language. For additional information visit www.callofduty.com/blackops and also via Twitter @JD_2020