Call of Duty 4 sells 10 million units

by Ross Miller on Jun 4th 2008 1:00AM

Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4 has just reached that coveted eighth digit in unit sales. The developer told CNET yesterday that the shooter had sold over 10 million units across all platforms. While unable to provide a breakdown of the figures, Infinity Ward said it had sold the best on Xbox 360.

According to the studio, it is one of "less than 10" games to reach the 10 million mark since 2000. Although we don't know for sure what those games are, our best guesses are The Sims, The Sims 2, World of Warcraft, a half dozen Nintendo DS games and Wii Play. As of January 2008, Halo 3 was at 8.1 million units sold worldwide. (It should be noted that the Call of Duty 4 has an advantage here by merit of the PC and PS3 versions.)

As for Call of Duty 5, Activision has still not confirmed which franchise regular is developing the game, be it Treyarch or Infinity Ward. Rumors suggest the former, but given COD4's success, we really hope IW gets to latch onto the series and keep hold.

Update: We just got word from Activision that the 10 million figure does not take into account the Mac and DS versions of the game.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Combat

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Tags: 10-million, activision, breakingnews, call-of-duty, call-of-duty-4, cod4, infinity-ward, PC, PS3, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (63)

Treyarch is definitely doing CoD5. A friend saw it and was offered a position on the project (he says).

My friend says COD5 will be set on Mars where a gate to hell is opened and it's your job to close it and kill all the demons.

but didn't IW get the exclusivity to all CoD games?

Call of Duty 5: Corporate Warefare

This time they replace all guns with smart phones and brief cases, but it still plays the same as COD4 which plays the same as COD2 but with sprinting.

WAIT! Didn't Joystiq post a story at the beginning of the year here IW claimed COD4 had sold 10 million units? So did they get caught in a lie then and had to wait until they actually sold that many copies to re-release the same press release?

If any game deserves such success, it would be CoD 4. Congrats to Infinity Ward.

Yes, because they added a perk system, new guns and sprinting to COD2 they deserve praise. Bah I'm just really bitter they tout it as a Modern Warefare shooter but there is nothing modern about running around like a mad-man tossing grenades in the sky, sure that makes since in a huge war like WWII but in modern times there are things one needs to worry about like civilian casualties and collateral damage, if anything they shouldn't have grenades at all and should be pentalized for using them so liberally.

Also RPG??? Need I say more? There are more effective and cheap methods of blowing shit up in modern times than the expensive and cumbersome "RPG" model used in the game.

Anticrawl,
I know, right? In CoD 5 you should be the guy that pushes the button that launches smart bombs. In the PS3 version you could even use awesome SIXAXIS...oh, I mean, Dualshock 3 motion controls to pour your coffee and jerk it on your breaks (Can I have Kaz's new job already?).

WRE, you know what I meant dude. There are better and more commonly used "rocket launchers" that not only cost less to make but give a more desirable effect. That and you can shoot C4 to blow it up? What the fuck, it's a non-volatile explosive; you could catch it on fire and be safe. I can maybe possibly see shooting a claymore and blow it up, if you manage to short out the detonator or something. Not only that but the Assault rifles had the SMG model ACOG scopes on them. There was nothing modern about the infantry warfare portrayed in the game. COD4: WWII Re-envisioned.

Dude, it was just a joke. I still love you.

Eh I didn't realize your reply was meant at the comment above and not this one. I thought you were taunting my distaste of the lack of any modern combat in COD4.

@ WRE:

I seriously can't stop LOLing from that one.

it's not a sim.

Meh, the only outstanding part of CoD4 was the single-player, which happened to be incredibly short. Multiplayer had/has some serious flaws preventing it from being an equally satisfing experience.

Anticrawl you know nothing. COD4 is SOOOO realistic, everyone knows that soldiers have the exact same experiences in real life:

Soldier Joe calls in on his radio to HQ, "WE NEED AIR SUPPORT NOW! Send a chopper!"
HQ, "EEhhh... how many people have you killed?"
Soldier Joe, "Huh? i don't know, i try not to think about that."
HQ, "Well until you can confirm at least 7 kills, we can't save your lives with a hellicopter, sorry"
HQ turns off radio.

yeah I started playing again and got addicted again. I havent played for a while since MarioKart and Wii Fit came out. But those got old fast

Same here, I messed around in GTA multi for a bit. But nothing matches the intensity of a good COD4 game.

True.

This is what happens when you not only make a great game, but you also give your diehard fans early access to it, so that you can get their feedback, and fine tune the end product.

Congrats to the entire Infinity Ward team, and we'll see you guys for Call of Duty 6.

COD 5 doesn't stand a chance. The popularity of COD4 is out of control and it will affect COD5 I think, hope not but we'll see. I hope they don't do what Ubi did with the R6 games. R6 Vegas 2 felt like $60 DLC content.

Dear Activision, take Treyarch behind the workshed and put it out of it's misery. Then give COD5 to Infinity Ward, not only is it the right thing to do...it makes FINANCIAL sense!

Or let Infinity make a different game for once.

God bless Infinity Ward. God damn Treyarch.

God damn Treyarch! Ugh.

Fantastic game, my only complaint is it was too short, as with all great games really. : (

I own a copy. The single player is fun and very well put together, the multiplayer is a joke.

There are so many things that make the game laughable, because it tries to be realistic; but seems to intentionally avoid getting closer to realism mostly because of perks.

It may be dated, but I have yet to find any multiplayer that was as perfectly polished as Wolfenstein, or Enemy Territory.

Yes, because the experience points appearing over the heads of people you've fragged, screams "WE MEANT THIS TO BE REALISTIC" lol.

W:ET is a great game, but it's not realistic either. If a lack of realism is keeping you from playing COD4, but you love W:ET, you might want to rethink what "realism" entails =p

Its obviously not meant to be realistic...Its not brown or bloomy enough.

I do admit Wolfenstein was great fun, that game needs a damn sequel!

Don't quote me, but I think I remember them announcing a sequel about a year ago.

Nope, UltimateQ, you're wrong. I revoke your right to have an opinion.

because in real life you get to call in an airstrike every time you kill three people in a row... yes. obviously meant to be realistic.

Wait...how is that gun being held up? neither of his hands seem to be holding it/touching it properly and there is no strap.

He's resting the gun on his knee and sandwiching it with his hand

I'm one of the few people out there who didn't really care much for Call of Duty 4, despite really liking Call of Duty 1 and 2.

yup

Most of the author's guesses for games to pass the 10 million mark are PC games ;)

Is 3/10 really the majority?

Hmph. I never got into COD4. Much more into Rainbow Six and Battlefield 2142.

Y'all definitely forgot the DS version, no matter how insignificant it might seem.

uh...

"Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4 has just reached"

The DS version was developed by n-Space, so yah, it is right to not mention it...

Uh, no, the title is "Call of Duty 4 sells 10 million units", not "Call of Duty 4 (not the DS version folks!) sells 10 million units".

=]

"Infinity Ward studio told me Tuesday that its war game, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, has just sold its 10 millionth copy"

Once again, they are talking about the ones developed by Infinity Ward

Yes, that's great, we've established that. But the title doesn't at all suggest this information, but rather that CoD4 as a complete set of games, has sold 10 million copies. And you can't tell me the title's allowed to be vague if the article clarifies...

It's a completely different game though. From Wikipedia:

"The DS version of the game allows the player to assume the roles of several anonymous soldiers, who are either affiliated with the British S.A.S. or American armed forces. Unlike the console and PC version of Call of Duty 4, players do not directly impact the outcome of the war. Instead of going after the main antagonists of the overall plot (the Four Horsemen: Russian Ultranationalist Imran Zakhaev and his allies), the playable characters in the DS version participate in minor missions, such as escaping from an American army base in the Middle East as it is attacked by enemy forces, or raiding two cargo ships in the stormy black and dark Baltic Sea which may be carrying nuclear materials. The DS version focuses less on the main attempts to end the conflict and more on the supporting role of the various other soldiers who played a part in the war."

It has the same title, but a different developer, plot, and engine. It's a different game.

and yes, the title is allowed to be vague, or even incomprehensible... have you noticed yet that this is a blog and not the new york times?

I'm not sure about the relevance of that little thing you added on there. However, it was just passing comment. I still think what I think, and you'll still think what you think. That's the magic of life.

COD4 was awesome, they deserve this kind of sales numbers!

Best. MP. EVER. This game is a system seller 2 of my buddies bought 360's for it. I know Ive gotten my moneys worth. Even if it has a short single player I went and played it again for achievements and then MP speaks for itself.

I have all the Call of Duty's.

COD PS2
COD: Big Red One PS2
COD2 360
COD3 360
COD4 360

Honestly I didn't see anything wrong with Big Red One and COD3 which are made by Treyarch. Most people in here are bitching about a Dev Co. that hasn't done anything but made good games.

COD: Big Red One had an awesome campaign and some of the best graphics on PS2 when I bought it, especially with composite cables. COD3 was a great game IMO. It had better graphics than part 2. A nice story and fun MP. I dont mind if Treyarch makes COD5 as long as they stick with IW's new formula like they more or less always do. Heres hoping...

Agreed...I liked COD3 as well, despite how the multiplayer sometimes got a bit wonky...all the same, their P2P structuring for multiplayer (though buggy at first) was eventually spot-on in creating an almost dedicated server-like experience, without the dedicated servers. COD2 MP sucked on 360 because you could only fit 8 guys in a game, but overall I think IW has finally nailed the console port of the game on all fronts...SP and MP. We should truly applaud IW for not taking the Epic route and attaching achievements to MP (thank you!), as that ruins the experience for many people who are simply playing online for fun. I'd prefer IW to develop the next CoD, but if it's Treyarch I won't be too heartbroken...they still make great games.

God yes, no achievements in Gears 2 MP would be awesome. But thats not happening since they have already confirmed it. We'll see how the new (only one kill per weapon, per round counts towards you're achievement) thing goes. I know they arent doing perks or anything like COD 4 but will they have a ranking class system like R6V, COD4 and Halo3? That would be nice IMO.

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Call of Duty 4 sells 10 million units

Call of Duty 4: Modern Combat

Reader Comments (63)

Posted: Jun 4th 2008 1:10AM spin cycle said

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