Record sales for 'Call of Duty "
Unparalleled success is won parActivision Blizzard, the world's largest video game publishing, controlled by Vivendi. The title Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the sixth episode of the series, marketed since November 10, has generated "revenues of 550 million dollars worldwide in the first five days of launch." In France also, the sales are amazing with 376 000 units and revenue of 25.5 million euros in one week, according to research firm GfK. In the world and the Hexagon, this is a record for the entertainment industry, all activities.
The war game, very realistic images worthy of Hollywood movies, has pushed revenues to film Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Half ($ 394 million) or those of the DVD Welcome to the Chti's in France (17, 1 million euros) over a comparable period.The latest version of Call of Duty has surpassed the previous record of video game racing cars GTA IV (24.1 million euros in France, 500 million dollars in the world with 6 million copies), marketed in 2008. In units, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has already been sold 8 million copies.
The breakthrough is not over. "Sales could exceed 15 million units sold by the end of 2009," said Jean-Bernard Levy, Chief Executive Officer of Vivendi, at the Forum d'Avignon which was named the Gotha Culture and Media. Starting this year, Call of Duty could achieve a turnover of one billion dollars.The margin would be considerable investment for the game is estimated at 200 million dollars.
No under 18 years
To meet this challenge, Bobby Kotick, Activision's boss, and Mike Griffith, head of publishing, do not skimp on resources. The game uses tested recipes: very realistic images, the voices of characters in the game played by celebrities such as actor Bill Murray and singer of the rap group 50 Cents, a story very close, developed by the best writers of the time as one of those in the television series NCIS. Finally, to reach a wide audience, the game is designed for game consoles Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC versions. Main downside: the title, very violent, is banned at least 18 years.
The model Vivendi proves his strength to face the crisis