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'Call of Duty: Black Ops' Tops $1B Sales Mark

 & Chloe Albanesius Executive Editor, News

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"Call of Duty: Black Ops" shows no signs of slowing down. Game maker Activision announced Tuesday that the game has now brought in more than $1 billion in sales worldwide since its November launch.

"In all of entertainment, only 'Call of Duty' and 'Avatar' have ever achieved the billion dollar revenue milestone this quickly," Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, said in a statement. "This is a tribute to the global appeal of the Call of Duty franchise, the exceptional talent at Treyarch and the hundreds of extraordinary people across our many Call of Duty studios including Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer that work tirelessly on the franchise."

To date, players have logged about 600 million hours of "Call of Duty: Black Ops" play time. Most people log on more than once a day and stay logged on for more than an hour. More than half that time is spent playing against friends, Activision said.

The game made its debut on November 9 and sold $650 million worth of games in its first five days, exceeding the previous top earner, "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," which brought in $550 million during its first five days. By month's end it sold 8.4 million units.

Earlier this month, the latest version of Activision's other popular franchise, "World of Warcraft: Cataclysm," sold 3.3 million copies in 24 hours, making it the fastest-selling PC game of all time.

For more details, see PCMag's full review of "Call of Duty: Black Ops" and the slideshow below.

About Our Expert

Chloe Albanesius

Chloe Albanesius

Executive Editor, News

My Experience

I started out covering tech policy in DC for The National Journal, where my beat included state-level tech news and all the congressional hearings and FCC meetings I could handle. I later covered Wall Street trading tech before switching gears to consumer tech. I now lead PCMag's news coverage.

My Areas of Expertise

Getting my start in DC means I still have a soft spot for tech policy; Congressional hearings can sometimes be as entertaining as a Bravo reality show, for better or worse. But PCMag is all about the technology we use every day, as well as keeping an eye out for the trends that will shape the industry in the years ahead (or flop on arrival). I've covered the rise of social media, the iOS vs. Android wars, the cord-cutting revolution that's now left us with hefty streaming bills, and the effort to stuff artificial intelligence into every product you could imagine. This job has taken me to CES in Vegas (one too many times), IFA in Berlin, and MWC in Barcelona. I also drove a Tesla 1,000 miles out west as part of our Best Mobile Networks project. Of late, my focus is on our hard-working team of reporters at PCMag, guiding and editing their robust coverage.

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