New video game generates $US500m sales in 24 hours
Latest release in Activision's Call of Duty franchise has mixed reviews, but smashes records.
Activision says the latest release in its Call of Duty franchise, Black Ops2, became the biggest entertainment launch of the year for the fourth year in a row, generating more than $US500 million in worldwide retail sales in the first 24 hours..
The game company's last release in the series, 2011's "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3," which made $US400 million in its first 24 hours and topped $US1 billion - putting it well ahead of most Hollywood blockbusters (although the top grossing movie of the year, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, edged it at $US1.32 billion).
Call of Duty:BlackOps II costs from $US99 through popular commercial download service Steam (which serves New Zealand, among many other countries). A deluxe edition costs $US110.
The title has had mixed reviews. Obsessive gamer and globally-rated Call of Duty player Kim Dotcom tweeted that he hated it and expected Activision's share price to drop (today, the company's shares [NAS:ATVI] were up 4.65% on the sales news, pushing the US company's market cap above $US12 billion).
Forbes agreed with Dotcom, calling the single-player version of the game boring and its movie-style narrative sequences endless, often leaving room for little actual gameplay.
The scenary is beautifully rendered, but there's lots of gameplay revolving around the over-familiar scenario of being stuck in a corridor shooting at stuff.
NBR staff
Sat, 17 Nov 2012
Sat, 17 Nov 2012
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New video game generates $US500m sales in 24 hours
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