Holy. Crap. The hype for Call Of Duty to return to the Black Ops franchise was huge, but I don’t think any gamer in the world thought it was *this* huge. According to a press released this afternoon from Activision, Black Ops III is now officially the biggest entertainment launch of 2015, raking in a mind-boggling sum of money in only five days. Black Ops III has brought in $550 million in just five days, making more money than the Jurassic World movie premiere weekend, which grossed $208 million on opening weekend (total worldwide gross to date for Jurassic World: $1.67 billion, according to Box Office Mojo). Via the press release that just landed in my inbox:
Activision Publishing, a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard (Nasdaq: ATVI), today confirmed that Call of Duty®: Black Ops III is the biggest entertainment launch of the year. In its first three days, the blockbuster title exceeded $550 million in sell-through worldwide, according to Activision estimates. The opening weekend haul is the biggest entertainment launch of 2015, including theatrical box office, music and book launches.
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Engagement per player also set a new record for the Call of Duty® franchise. Additionally, fans played more than 75 million hours online in its opening three days.
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“The Call of Duty: Black Ops III launch is bigger than any game, any movie, or any entertainment launch this year. But more importantly, our fans are engaging more deeply with the franchise than ever before. In fact, so far, people are playing Black Ops III for more hours per player than any Call of Duty game on record,” said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing. “Call of Duty is more than a game, it’s a year round passion for a growing base of millions of fans and it’s only gaining momentum.”
I’m sure Star Wars will shatter that come December, but still — That’s an impressive number.
I started playing BO3 last night. I know most players just focus on acquainting themselves with the maps and ranking up in multiplayer, but Christopher Meloni a.k.a. the Law And Order SVU detective in the BO3 campaign mode as a super solider is tripping me out.
Also, in other topical C.O.D. news: Since today is Veterans Day, Call of Duty‘s non-profit, of Duty Endowment has teamed up with Hardee’s/Carl’s Jr for a great fundraiser. All proceeds from the sales of any “Ultimate Care Package” at Carl’s Jr/Hardee’s today will go directly to the Call Of Duty Endowment, which does tremendous work helping veterans find jobs.
I talked the head of the Call Of Duty Endowment at the C.O.D. championship last year. They do tremendous work at placing veterans in jobs that deserves to be acknowledged.