Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 hits $1 Billion in just 16 days

Activision have announced today that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 crossed the $1 billion mark in sales since its launch on November 8th, 2011.

The game achieved this milestone in just 16 days, eclipsing the record set in 2009 by the feature film 'Avatar,' which reached the $1 billion milestone in 17 days. With more than 30 million gamers, the Call of Duty community now exceeds the combined populations of the cities of New York, London, Tokyo, Paris and Madrid.

"Engagement of our Call of Duty audience continues to rise around the world" said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. "Call of Duty as an entertainment franchise has made an indelible mark on popular culture and its broad and continued success is further validation that audiences increasingly value interactive experiences over passive experiences."

Call of Duty Elite is also one of the fastest growing online services ever with more than six million players registered since its launch, and over one million premium subscriptions sold to date. By comparison, the premium subscription services of Netflix, Hulu Plus, Sirius XM and Xbox Live, did not reach one million paid subscribers until almost one year after launch.

"Call of Duty has become that rare entertainment franchise that transcends its own genre. Core gamers love it, as our stellar reviews show. But every year, new people are drawn into Call of Duty," said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing. "And while the franchise continues to set records, our fans still seem to want more, demonstrated by our record setting start on Call of Duty Elite."