For an entertainment property to hit $1 billion in sales is a very rare feat. For two separate properties to pass the 10-figure mark at the same time may well be a first.
On Wednesday, Activision Blizzard announced that its mega-hit video game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, had crossed the billion-dollar mark, after just two months on store shelves–and the entertainment industry’s single-day sales record. That milestone came shortly after it was announced that James Cameron’s uber-blockbuster movie, “Avatar,” had also reached that financial promised land.
To be sure, these are just round numbers, and don’t have any formal meaning, but there’s no arguing with the fact that it sure sounds good for the entertainment business to be sporting two separate billion-dollar titles at the same time, especially since they come from such different corners of the world.
In the history of video games, a billion-dollar hit is an extreme rarity. It’s hard to tell precisely how many there have been, but it’s possible that number is as small as two. Almost exactly a year ago, Activision Blizzard hailed its Guitar Hero III as being the first game to ever cross the billion-dollar threshold–at least as measured by retail sales. And my meanderings through Google failed to turn up another single title that has earned that much, including the much-vaunted Halo 3, or any of the seemingly endless number of Grand Theft Auto releases. Click here to read more.. »
