‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’ Hits $1B in Sales

Video game publisher Activision announced Monday its first-person shooter "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3" has reached $1 billion in sales in just 16 days.

The game, released Nov. 8, beat movie box office champ "Avatar" to the $1 billion milestone by one day. "Avatar," took 17 days to reach $1 billion in ticket sales in 2009, and went on to earn more than $2.7 billion worldwide.

"Engagement of our 'Call of Duty' audience continues to rise around the world" said Activision CEO Bobby Kotick in a press release.

"'Call of Duty' as an entertainment franchise has made an indelible mark on popular culture and its broad and continued success is further validation that audiences increasingly value interactive experiences over passive experiences."

"Modern Warfare 3" sold 6.5 million copies in its first 24 hours on shelves, IGN reported, breaking the day-one sales set by previous "Call of Duty" entries "Black Ops" and "Modern Warfare 2."