Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) said Friday that its "Call of Duty: Black Ops II" has set a new record, taking in more than $500 million in worldwide retail sales in the first 24 hours of release.
The latest first-person shooter has taken in more than last year's "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3," which made $400 million in sales in its first 24 hours.
"With first day sales of over half a billion dollars worldwide, we believe Call of Duty is the biggest entertainment launch of the year for the fourth year in a row," Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said.
"Life-to-date sales for the Call of Duty franchise have exceeded worldwide theatrical box office receipts for 'Harry Potter' and 'Star Wars', the two most successful movie franchises of all time. Given the challenged macro-economic environment, we remain cautious about the balance of 2012 and 2013."
Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) sci-fi shooter "Halo 4" - which was released last week - had sales of $220 million in its first day on the market.
Earlier this month, Activision Blizzard, the world's biggest video games publisher, raised its full-year earnings, saying strong sales of its "Diablo III" adventure game and a strong start for its toy-meets-videogame "Skylanders: Giants" are powering better-than-expected results. The company's upbeat outlook followed a strong third-quarter numbers.
Activision shares were up 4 per cent to $11.01 Friday afternoon.