Violent video game breaks records with 4.7m sales in a day

Big hit: 4.7 million copies on its opening day
12 April 2012

The computer game Call of Duty sold 4.7million copies on its opening day, making it the biggest entertainment launch in history.

New figures show that the latest version, Modern Warfare 2, which allows players to "kill" innocent civilians, sold 1.23million copies in the UK alone.

Dozens of shops opened at midnight to sell the £55 disc, and in many places it sold out instantly, leaving disappointed gamers roaming the streets looking for copies.

"The Call of Duty franchise has become a cultural phenomenon showing the power of video games as an entertainment medium," said Mike Griffith, chief executive of Activision Publishing, the game's publisher.

It is estimated the game, which involves players hunting down a terrorist, generated revenues of £187million from a single day's sales. It also outsold Grand Theft Auto IV, which sold 3.6million copies worldwide and was the previous best-selling game.

Sales even topped the record-breaking opening weekend takings of the Batman film The Dark Knight at the US box office, although the worldwide record for a film opening is still held by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at £240million.

However, the revenues generated by Modern Warfare 2 were for a single day in just Britain and America.

Experts say the figures are a watershed for the computer games industry. Michael Rawlinson, of the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association, said: "These first-day sales figures are astonishing and clear evidence that video games are now mainstream in the UK. Our form of interactive entertainment has completely come of age."

The game has been described as one of the most violent ever produced.

Labour MP Keith Vaz, chairman of the home affairs select committee, said the game contained "scenes of brutality" and urged MPs to do more to protect children against the game.

However, fellow MP Tom Watson told Parliament: "It carries a content warning and is an 18-plus game. It would be better for members of this House to support the many thousands of games designers and coders and the many millions of games users."

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