'Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3' Sales Hit $550 Million; Activision's Biggest Entertainment Launch Yet!

Treyarch's "Call of Duty: Black Ops 3," in its first 72 hours, has generated over $500 million in worldwide sales since its Nov. 6 release, according to Fortune.

"The 'Call of Duty: Black Ops III' launch is bigger than any game, any movie, or any entertainment launch this year," said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing. "But more importantly, our fans are engaging more deeply with the franchise than ever before."

Fans played more than 75 million hours in the first three days and engagement per player has set a new record, cited Activision.

"Black Ops 3" is on track to be the sixth consecutive "Call of Duty" to break the one billion mark.

In its first day of availability, the game also set a new record as the best-selling digital full game by units sold in PS4 history.

"This year's launch, based on Activision's press release, appears to be an uptick from recent years, although we really don't know what the retail compare is," says John Taylor, video game analyst at AIC research.

More gamers have downloaded the games directly these days instead of buying copies. This contributed to the decline in "Call of Duty's" retail sales over the past few years, according to Taylor.

Users also have significantly grown on a large scale, which allowed sales to spread out through holiday season because consumers wait to get the game as a present.

As for the chief executive officer of SuperData Research, Josh van Dreunen says that the franchise continues to perform well and shows growth on the digital side.

Total revenues with each edition continue to increase within the first twelve months. Digital sales have risen from Infinity Ward's "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare" $235 million in 2009 to $554 million last year with Sledgehammer Games' "Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare."

Activision's stock is up 2% to $34.63 in trading Wednesday, reveals Variety.