Modern Warfare 2 Sales Pass $1 Billion Mark

Sure, Avatar might be the cash-generating franchise everyone is talking about...but Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is giving it some competition.

There are few video game titles that can claim to have rung up more than $1 billion in sales, and now that short list has a new entry: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. According to publisher Activision, Modern Warfare 2 has now crossed the $1 billion threshold in retail sales since its launch in November 2009.

“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has exceeded our expectations and shattered theatrical box office and video game records,” said Activision Blizzard CEO Robert Kotick, in a statement. “There are only a handful of entertainment properties that have ever reached the $1 billion mark, which illustrates the power of the Call of Duty franchise and mass appeal of this game.”

Thanks to heavy pre-orders, the game also raked in $550 million in its first week of release, which actually put it ahead of earnings from box office blockbusters like The Dark Knight and, yes, even Avatar. However, when comparing dollar figures it’s important to note that a single copy of a video game is prices three to eight times higher than a typical movie ticket.

In addition to mountains of cash, Modern Warfare 2 also generated a good deal of controversy due to its violence, as well as a segment in which players participate in a massacre of civilians at an airport.