‘Modern Warfare 2’ passes $1 billion as game industry prepares for dismal year-end data

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The video game industry got a shot of good news today before what’s expected to be a final dose of bad news on 2009 on Thursday.

Activision Blizzard Inc. revealed this morning that sales of its blockbuster title Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 have exceeded $1 billion worldwide since it launched on Nov. 10. Though the Santa Monica-based publisher didn’t specify how many units it had sold, that’s likely close to 15 million based on the 8 million units the game sold in its first week on $550 million in receipts.

That means the game likely already is, or soon will be, ahead of the 14.4 million units of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare in 2007, previously the best-selling title in the hugely popular 6-year-old Call of Duty military shooter series. Modern Warfare 2 now ranks among the best-selling video games of all time, including sequels to the Grand Theft Auto and Super Mario series.

Though sales of video games, which cost $60 or more each, are difficult to compare with theatrical box office, Activision is no doubt thrilled that its $1-billion-plus game may now be compared to ‘Avatar,’ which recently became only the fifth movie ever to gross more than $1 billion worldwide.

The game’s continued success is good news for Activision and the industry, but is far from enough to make up for what has been a difficult year for video game disc sales. The NPD Group, which tracks retail game revenue in the U.S., will release its final figures for 2009 on Thursday afternoon. December, always the biggest month for the industry thanks to holiday purchases, is expected to be as disappointing as the first 11 months of the year, when game sales fell 11% and total revenue, including hardware and accessories, was down 12%.

Sales of music games have been particularly hard hit during the economic downturn. That’s just as painful as Modern Warfare 2 is profitable for Activision Blizzard. It owns the Guitar Hero franchise, which saw four sequels or spinoffs released between September and December.

-- Ben Fritz