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Nicholas Lovell
Home   >   Analysis and Opinion   >   Analysis   >   Modern Warfare is the largest media launch ever, beating books, movies and other games

Modern Warfare is the largest media launch ever, beating books, movies and other games

By on November 20, 2009

I’m breaking a rule here. I don’t usually just rehash press releases without any analysis. But the Modern Warfare announcement that it has grossed an estimated $550 million in the first five days is pretty impressive. As the release says,

“Modern Warfare 2‘s launch beat all previous first-and five-day entertainment industry box office, book and video game sell-through records:

Five day records

  • The largest reported five-day opening worldwide box office gross figures, held by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ($394 million)
  • The largest reported five-day opening domestic box office gross figures, held by The Dark Knight ($203.8 million)
  • The largest reported five-day worldwide video game sales record, previously held by Grand Theft Auto IV (6 million units, $500 million)

First day records

  • The largest reported opening first-day domestic box office gross figures, held by The Dark Knight ($66.4 million)
  • The largest reported first-day book sales in dollars, held by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ($220 million)
  • The largest reported first-day worldwide video game sales record, previously held by Grand Theft Auto IV (3.6 million units, $310 million) “

Although price-discounting meant that Modern Warfare 2 sold for a lower price point that GTA IV, it still beat that impressive record, and is yet more evidence that games are now a major part of the entertainment landscape.

About Nicholas Lovell

Nicholas is the founder of Gamesbrief, a blog dedicated to the business of games. It aims to be informative, authoritative and above all helpful to developers grappling with business strategy. He is the author of a growing list of books about making money in the games industry and other digital media, including How to Publish a Game and Design Rules for Free-to-Play Games, and Penguin-published title The Curve: thecurveonline.com