Controversial video game sets new opening day sales record with $360 million

[News_Editor]

Controversial video game sets new opening day sales record with $360 million

2010-11-12 08:40:00 GMT+7 (ICT)

SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA (BNO NEWS) -- Activision Blizzard on Thursday announced that its controversial video game, 'Call of Duty: Black Ops', set a new opening day sales record with approximately $360 million in North America and United Kingdom alone.

The previous record belonged to the predecessor of the video game, 'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2', which registered $310 million in sales during the first 24 hours of its release. This marks the second year in a row that Activision's Call of Duty franchise set day one launch records across all forms of entertainment.

"There has never been another entertainment franchise that has set opening day records for two consecutive years and we are on track to outperform last year's five-day global sales record of $550 million," said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. "The game's success underscores the pop culture appeal of the brand. 'Call of Duty: Black Ops' is the finest game that Treyarch has ever made and raises the bar for online gameplay by delivering the deepest and most intense 'Call of Duty' experience yet."

'Call of Duty: Black Ops' was released with an unprecedented retailer support and more than 12,000 midnight openings around the globe. The 'Call of Duty' franchise has over 25 million players around the world who engage in billions of hours of online gameplay.

However, the newest member of the franchise has received some critics due to its content. In one of the levels, players are ordered to infiltrate and kill a young Fidel Castro. In response, the Cuban government has harshly criticized the video game.

Cuba said on Thursday that 'Call of Duty: Black Ops' consists of a violent role-playing that glorifies assassination and will turn American children into sociopaths. The Cuban government alleges that the United States is trying to accomplish in a virtual world what they were unable to fulfill in the past, referring to the many assassination attempts that Castro survived.

'Call of Duty: Black Ops' takes players on secret missions to American Cold War enemies such as the Soviet Union, Cuba, Vietnam and Laos. The Cuban operation is one of the first challenges players face in the ultra-realistic game. The mission takes place with John F. Kennedy in the White House in the months leading up to the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion and the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

"This new video game is doubly perverse. On the one hand, it glorifies the illegal assassination attempts the United States government planned against the Cuban leader and on the other, it stimulates sociopath attitudes in North American children and adolescent," the Cuban government said through state-run media.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2010-11-12

[kmj]

Love Blizzard - hate Activision ( worked for both in past years ) have to wait for GTA V to take the record back, if they can get it shipped before 2012...