Call of Duty franchise makes more money than Harry Potter

Activision’s premier first-person shooter Black Ops 2 broke the $1 billion mark today, making it the fastest selling game in history above the previous record holder and sister title Mordern Warfare 3. This milestone also makes the Call of Duty franchise bigger than the largest grossing film franchises, like Harry Potter and (*sniff*) Star Wars.

CEO of Activison Publishing Eric Hirshberg is excited about the success of the franchise, but in a recent press release, he gave much of the credit to the team of developers who put the games together:

“Entertainment franchises that captivate audiences for as long as Call of Duty has, on the scale that Call of Duty has, are very rare things. And it takes a lot of brilliant people working across many different disciplines to make it happen. It is incredibly humbling and gratifying to be a part of. In order for Call of Duty to remain the entertainment juggernaut that it is, and keep our fans coming back for more, we need to continue to bring fresh ideas and new innovations to the table every time, while always staying true to what people fell in love with in the first place. That’s what we did with Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and that’s what we intend to keep on doing. This is an incredible milestone for an incredible franchise, and I want to thank every passionate, talented, committed person on our team who made it happen.”

We have poked fun at the launch of BlOps 2 because of the shipping issues and its call to political controversy, but there is no denying its popularity. With over 150 million hours logged into the game on the PlayStation Network and Xbox LIVE, there is only one question to be asked: “Why haven’t you logged in, yet?”