Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 had a record-breaking launch, selling more than 6.5 million units in North America and the U.K. for a total of more than $400 million in sales on its first day in stores, Activision said in a statement.
According to Activision, Modern Warfare 3 also broke the record of 5.6 million units and $360 million in sales set last year by Call of Duty: Black Ops. The company also suggested that it could be the biggest video game launch ever.
"We believe the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is the biggest entertainment launch of all time in any medium, and we achieved this record with sales from only two territories," Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, Inc., said in a statement. "Other than Call of Duty, there has never been another entertainment franchise that has set opening day records three years in a row. Life-to-date sales for the Call of Duty franchise exceed worldwide theatrical box office for 'Star Wars' and 'Lord of the Rings,' two of the most successful entertainment franchises of all time."
Amazon also said the latest edition of Call of Duty was its best-selling video game pre-order of all time.
Black Ops went on to do $1 billion in sales in under two months. It appears Modern Warfare 3 is on a similar track and could smash that number.
Activision released Modern Warfare 3 on Tuesday and celebrated the launch with parties at 13,000 retailers worldwide.
Players can team up online, locally, or play MW3 solo. The $59.99 game is available for PC, PS3, and the Xbox 360; $49.99 Wii and $29.99 Nintendo DS options are also on sale. An Xbox 360 Limited Edition console package is also available for $399.99, and that includes the game, an Xbox with COD:MW3 artwork, a 320GB hard drive, two wireless controllers, customer MW3-inspired audio.
For more on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, see PCMag's first look and the slideshow below.