The Call of Duty is being answered by more gamers than ever, Activision reports. The series publisher’s projected that the globe’s most popular military first-person-shooter series has now become a $10 billion franchise worldwide.
The news comes nearly three weeks after the release of Sledgehammer Games’s Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, though no specific sales figures for copies sold were offered for the title thus far. What Activision does say is that this year’s release is the by far the largest for any entertainment product in 2014 in cold hard cash.
Advanced Warfare now must live up to the record-breaking milestone set by 2012’s Call of Duty: Black Ops II. The sequel to 2010’s Black Ops, Black Ops II earned $500 million in the U.S. alone in its first day and sold over 7.5 million copies – the biggest launch day for a game on record until the release of Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V.
Comparably, the open-world action title sold 11.2 million copies and made off with $800 million day one. It’s sold over 34 million copies to date since its release in late September of 2013 on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 alone. The game recently released for Windows PC, Xbox One, and Playstation 4 with an all-new first person mode, updated graphics, as well rumored “Share Play” support.
Prior to the release of 2013’s Call of Duty: Ghosts, the series has been on a financial upswing with Black Ops II. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 made $400 million day one; Call of Duty: Black Ops $360 million; and Modern Warfare 2 $310 million. Black Ops II grossed over a billion in 15 days – one day less than Modern Warfare 3.
For now, Advanced Warfare is reportedly performing better than Ghosts despite the lack of firm statistics. It is also the biggest revenue earner for digital titles in console history.
Analysts have since speculated as to the decline of the franchise monetarily and critically. Either remain to be seen as new studio Sledgehammer Games’s work with Advanced Warfare mark Activision’s new intention of releasing all future series entries over a three-year development cycle, according to reports.