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Call Of Duty Franchise Recovers As Black Ops III Sells $550 Million In Opening Weekend
Over the past two years, Call of Duty opening weekend sales have been sliding. Black Ops III reverses the trend that Ghosts and Advanced Warfare started.
Activision reports that more than $550 million worth of copies were sold to customers in the game’s opening weekend. The publisher claims this is the largest video game launch of the year, though without complete data from all major launches we are unable to verify.
The trend of digital purchases continues, as that method has nearly doubled year-over-year. Black Ops III also set PlayStation 4 records, with the best-selling opening day for digital, full-priced games (by units sold, not revenue).
For more on Call of Duty: Black Ops III, check out our review.
Our Take
There are a lot of qualifiers on the PS4 record that Black Ops III now holds, but with the growing trend for digital adoption and two years of releases already, that’s a big mountain to sit atop. The partnership with Sony, a shift from years past, means that DLC will come first to PS4 by a margin of 30 days. Most importantly, Activision has reversed a downward trend in Call of Duty sales, proving the series still has a lot of life left in it.
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