Black Ops Billions – ‘Call of Duty’ Makes ‘Avatar’ Money in 42 Days

Set in the Cold War, the first person shooter game proves a very hot property this holiday season

The target has been hit.

In just 42 days, Activision’s “Call of Duty: Black Ops” has made over $1 billion in sales, the game publisher announced Wednesday.

“In all of entertainment,” Activision CEO Bobby Kotick told the New York Post, “only ‘Call of Duty’ and ‘Avatar’ have ever achieved the billion-dollar revenue milestone this quickly.”

Well, kind of.

It took James Cameron’s interstellar 3D epic, which came out on Dec. 18, 2009, only 20 days to hit the big B. Having said that, while “Avatar,” which went on to become the highest grossing film of all time ( and the most pirated of 2010) with a worldwide box office of nearly $2.8 billion, retains the record right now, “Call of Duty: Black Ops” isn’t exactly shooting wide – the seventh installment in the “Call of Duty” series, which retails for around $59.99, could become one of the most successful entertainment properties ever.

For one thing, it was much quicker to hit the billion dollar mark that its franchise predecessor. “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” took 64 days to make $1 billion after it came out in Nov. 2009.

With big pre-orders and line-ups at stores, the indications were all there right out of the gate for “Call of Duty: Black Ops” when it came out on Nov. 9 that the highly anticipated first person shooter game was going to prove to be a big hit.Published by Santa Monica-based Activision, “Call of Duty: Black Ops,” set during the Cold War, made over $360 million in retail sales in the first 24 hours after it was released on Nov. 9. It has, according to Kotick, tallied up 600 million hours of online play.

All of which has proven very good for the company’s bottom line.

Despite a recent $400 million lawsuit against industry heavyweight Electronic Arts and a breach of contract action against two former “Call of Duty” game developers who went to form their own company, shares in Activision have risen 10 percent this year, closing at $12. 24 on Dec. 21.

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