Modern Warfare 3 hits $1 billion in 16 days – beating Avatar’s record by one day
By Rob Waugh
Last updated at 12:25 PM on 13th December 2011
The Call of Duty series – and its spin-off Modern Warfare – have been a reliable Christmas hit for makers Activision for years.
But this year – despite competition from ramped-up rival Battlefield 3 – the shoot ‘em up has grossed $1 billion faster than any entertainment product in history.
It beat James Cameron’s Avatar to the record by 24 hours – earning $1 billion in just 16 days.
Modern Warfare 3 beat Avatar to the $1 billion mark by one day. It took Avatar 17 days to hit $1 billion, whereas Activision’s hit shooter took just 16


Both Avatar and Harry Potter: the Deathly Hallows Part Two took 17 days to reach the magic number.
Modern Warfare’s predecessor took two months to hit $1 billion.
CEO Bobby Kotick said, ‘Call of Duty is now amongst that rarified group of franchises like Star Wars, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings and the that attract or engage tens of millions of people every year.’
The game sold $400 million within 24 hours. Around the world, 13,000 shops had midnight openings to celebrate the launch.
The game sold $400 million within 24 hours – with 13,000 shops worldwide opening at midnight for the launch
Critical reaction was more muted, though.
‘Review aggregator’ site Metacritic calculated that overall reviews for the site came out at 88 per cent – lukewarm praise in the outspoken world of games – and a distinct dip from the first Modern Warfare’s 92 per cent.
Gaming site IGN acknowledged that the series was ‘formulaic’ and that gamers ‘love to hate it’, but said, ‘No other first-person shooter has the same flair for visual spectacle in its singleplayer campaign, and few can match its utterly addictive multiplayer.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2073201/Modern-Warfare-3-hits-1-billion-16-days–beating-Avatars-record-day.html#ixzz1gbACKhKC