Black Ops tops Modern Warfare 2 launch

Modern Warfare 2 was the biggest day-one launch in entertainment history. Was. Call of Duty: Black Ops has made an astonishing $360 million in the US and UK alone during the first 24 hours of sale - $50 million more than MW2! Activision internal estimates suggest that's approximately 5.6 million copies, compared to 4.7 million.

"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 Activision Blizzard CEO, Bobby Kotick.

"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."

Despite the game's launch problems, despite last year's Infinity Ward drama, the game has sold in unprecedented volumes. What we're talking about here is brand power, and Call of Duty has it. So much so, that the name is bigger than the developer behind it, and it has become clear that it doesn't matter what team is working on what game, it's it's "CoD", it will sell.

Cowen & Company's analyst Doug Creutz said today that "the title's strong start validates our view that the Call of Duty franchise brand has become more important than the studio behind any individual title, increasing our conviction that Call of Duty can be successful again in 2011 despite the personnel departures from developer Infinity Ward earlier this year."