Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 grosses $1 billion in record time

In just 15 days since its launch, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 has crossed the $1 billion mark in worldwide retail sales, Activision announced today. Even more impressive is that it managed to do so in even less time than its predecessor, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, which reached $1 billion in retail sales in 16 days.

"The release of Call of Duty has been one of the most significant entertainment events of each of the last six years," said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard.

"Entertainment franchises that captivate audiences for as long as Call of Duty has, on the scale that Call of Duty has, are very rare things. And it takes a lot of brilliant people working across many different disciplines to make it happen. It is incredibly humbling and gratifying to be a part of," added Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing.

"In order for Call of Duty to remain the entertainment juggernaut that it is, and keep our fans coming back for more, we need to continue to bring fresh ideas and new innovations to the table every time, while always staying true to what people fell in love with in the first place. That's what we did with Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, and that's what we intend to keep on doing. This is an incredible milestone for an incredible franchise, and I want to thank every passionate, talented, committed person on our team who made it happen."

Although reaching $1 billion sales in just 15 days is an extraordinary feat, some analysts are worried for the future of Call of Duty. Despite Black Ops 2's massive launch, which generated $500 million on its first day at retail, Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia estimated that CoD: Black Ops 2 unit sales in its first year could ultimately be down 10 percent to 15 percent year-over-year compared to Modern Warfare 3.