14 DAY TRIAL // Video game publisher Activision announces that its recently launched Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare has become the biggest selling entertainment launch of the year, which means that it has managed to produce more money already than any other book, album or movie that was delivered to the public in the past 365 days.
Bobby Kotick, the chief executive officer of the company, says that at the moment overall sales for the franchise have gone past the 10 billion dollars (7.6 billion Euro) mark all over the world and have surpassed the performance of high-profile movies like Hunger Games, Transformers, Iron Man, and Avengers combined.
Interestingly, the data on which the claim is based is only linked to the first week after launch and some estimates are involved.
Eric Hirshberg, the executive in charge of the publishing arm of Activision, adds, “Sales and engagement are up through the first week compared to last year. Season Pass sales are up, as well. The game has been very positively reviewed and the response from fans has been tremendous. We believe Advanced Warfare will be the most successful game of the year and we thank our fans for making it the biggest entertainment launch of the year.”
At the moment, the company is not offering any clear information on the actual sales numbers of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, but an update might be provided by the end of the year.
Call of Duty shows no sign of decline
Prior to the actual launch, some analysts said that the smaller than expected pre-orders placed for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare represent a sign that the franchise is losing Steam and gamers are no longer interested in playing its defining multiplayer experience.
Sledgehammer Games has introduced a wide array of changes to the various modes, including the introduction of the exo-skelton and futuristic weapons, which might have sparked more interest from the community.
The single-player side of the experience has also received more praise than that offered by last year’s Ghosts.
Since the game was launched, two full patches were released in order to improve balance and eliminate some of the bugs that gamers have spotted.
The development team and Activision are currently getting ready to launch the first of the downloadable content packs for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, which will arrive in early 2015 and will be first playable on the Xbox One.
