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Modern Warfare 3 beats Avatar to $1 billion milestone

Activision's blockbuster breaks new record after 16 days on sale

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 grossed $1 billion in the 16 days following its November 8 launch.

According to data from Charttrack and retail customer sell-through information, Activision's franchise reached $1 billion in revenue one day quicker than James Cameron's Avatar - currently the highest-grossing film of all time.

"Call of Duty as an entertainment franchise has made an indelible mark on popular culture and its broad and continued success is further validation that audiences increasingly value interactive experiences over passive experiences," said Activision-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick in a statement.

Modern Warfare 3 generated $775 million of that total in its first five days on sale, beating the $650 million its predecessor, Black Ops, earned in the same period.

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Matthew Handrahan avatar
Matthew Handrahan joined GamesIndustry in 2011, bringing long-form feature-writing experience to the team as well as a deep understanding of the video game development business. He previously spent more than five years at award-winning magazine gamesTM.
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