For Activision, Call of Duty is the game that just keeps on giving. Last year’s massively successful Black Ops has sold almost 15 million copies in 2011 alone. Surprisingly, the news comes from an UbiSoft earnings report. With sales of 14,983,459 units, Black Ops is currently the best selling game of the year.
It’s worth taking into account that these numbers are sourced from the US NPD, meaning they only represent sales in the good ol’ US of A. The worldwide total could be (and probably is) much larger. The sales figures represent the period from January 10th to September 11th, meaning there is still plenty of time for Black Ops to sell even more.
Even with the recent, record-breaking release of Modern Warfare 3, the Black Ops money train probably won’t lose any steam. Previous Call of Duty iterations still manage to sell well despite newer games. As one of the most-played titles on Xbox Live, Black Ops’ popularity is sure to stretch far into the future, even when Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 9 Return Of Ramirez Against Random Middle Eastern Threat is released.
For the record, Black Ops is has already been recognized as the best selling game ever in the UK, and just a few months ago the NPD group proclaimed that Black Ops is the best selling game of all time.
With its astronomical installed base, Black Ops is sure to continue making money for a long time to come. The game’s arguably over priced DLC makes a killing for Activision, and the publisher clearly intends to keep that revenue stream flowing. With Modern Warfare 3 scheduled to have 20 “pieces” of DLC over the next nine months, not to mention the ongoing Call of Duty: Elite, the only place Activision will be going is to the bank.
Are you surprised by how many copies Black Ops continues to sell? Do you prefer Black Ops to Modern Warfare 3?
-
Follow me on Twitter @AnthonyMole
Source: UbiSoft
