Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 has grossed a small $1 billion in its first 15 days of release; this was gladly announced today by Activision. Not only is that an impressive number, but it breaks Modern Warfare 3’s 16-day record. So much for Call of Duty on the downwards slide?

Once again Call of Duty is now sitting proudly above the big film blockbuster‘s in terms of opening takings, this is astounding since financial analysts were  stating that Black Ops 2 sales were 15% less than its previous Call of Duty sibling. Now this makes us wonder, has it sold more copies than its predecessor? Or could the record number of pre-orders possibly have sent this official grossing number sky-high?

Analyst firm Sterne Agee stated back in November ““We believe unit sales of Call of Duty: Black Ops II are tracking down double digits year-over-year… Our checks show initial sales of CoD: Black Ops II at some retailers were down as much as 20 percent. Subsequently, it appears sales of CoD did pick up a bit over the Thanksgiving holiday. We think the current sales curve suggests CoD: Black Ops II unit sales in its first year could ultimately be down 10 percent to 15 percent year-over-year,” Which was originally reported by Gamesindustry.  So the question remains are the analysts horribly wrong? Or has something been miscalculated?

Remember Black Ops 2 also beat Modern Warfare 3 on day-one sales by $100 million. From all accounts this looks to be the biggest Call of Duty in history, if the numbers are lower than previous years, yet they have still grossed more, I call hacks. Mind you Call of Duty did go head-to-head with Halo 4 this year, so a slight dip in sales were to be expected, but since Halo 4 is console exclusive to Xbox the variation could have been only slight.

Speculate all we want, the fact is and the numbers don’t like, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is a definite success…On 10^th Prestige. Our very own George “Wild Beard” Sinclair reviewed Black Ops 2 and you can check out his review right here.

Source: IGN

 Jamie Briggs manages Analog Addiction where you can find all his latest reviews, interviews and features and also like them on Facebook. Also follow his daily life on Twitter @AnalogAddiction and their videos on YouTube.