Call of Duty: Black Ops II generates $500 million in 24 hours

Love it or hate it, the Call of Duty franchise is one hell of a money-making machine. Black Ops II, the latest release in the series, launched earlier this week on a number of different platforms. Some wondered if the title would be able to eclipse last year’s record-setting Modern Warfare 3 in terms of first day sales.

The numbers are now in and according to Treyarch and Activision, there’s a new record holder among us. Black Ops II generated $500 million in worldwide sales during the first day. For comparison, Halo 4 raked in $220 million in the first 24 hours earlier this month.

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick said he believes Call of Duty is the biggest entertainment launch of the year for the fourth year in a row.

If you recall, Modern Warfare 3 brought in $400 million in sales on launch day which equated to 6.5 million copies. The companies have yet to release an exact number count for Black Ops II but it’s surely higher than last year’s mark.

GameStop announced they sold more than a million copies of the game on launch day while Amazon said the game became their most pre-ordered title of all time.

There were more than 16,000 midnight launches at retail stores around the globe, attended by millions of gamers anxious to get their hands on the new title. It was even a trending topic in 23 cities on Twitter according to Activision. Five day sales figures for Black Ops II are expected in the near future.