NPD: Call of Duty: Black Ops is the US's best-selling game ever

by JC Fletcher on Mar 10th 2011 7:45PM

This Call of Duty: Black Ops thing appears to be taking off. You might remember the billionaire game from its position at the top of the NPD software chart tonight, a position it's held since its November release.

In a statement released this evening, NPD analyst Anita Frazier says that in that short time, Black Ops has already surpassed Wii Play as the best-selling game in history. Like, ever. Activision hasn't released specific US life-to-date sales numbers, but it sold 5.6 million copies in the UK and US on day one. And as of October, Nintendo claimed sales of around 13 million Wii Plays.

So, more than that.

Tags: activision, Call-of-Duty-Black-Ops, ds, microsoft, nintendo, npd, pc, playstation, ps3, sales, wii, xbox

Reader Comments (122)

Surprise!

Sigh.

@(Unverified)

Lol what's sad is that you hate Call of duty so much that you would rather the people who spent their time making the game the best it can be not get paid & lose their jobs just so Bobby Kotick can "feel it". Regardless of how many people hate COD, it will continue to sell like this. For every one person who says it sucks, there are 100 others who actually can enjoy the game & not look too much into it like that 1 person does.

Moral of the story is, if you don't like it, you have your right to. But don't rain on others' parade because they know how to enjoy something you can't

Still....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR2Cqez4sBA

I wonder if this would still be true if Steam was taken into account.

@Rollins You think if they added the steam sales too, the overall sales number would be lower? Good idea.

@IrateGamer
Maybe Counterstrike or Half-Life would overtake it? Still, zing! etc

@IrateGamer
no but Half life's sold over 9.5 million at retail and I'm sure it's sold a lot on steam too...

@IrateGamer

You know what I meant. I hope.

Digital distribution isn't taken into account here at all, which is where the majority of many games' sales have been made.

@Rollins

right, but you act like CoD wouldn't have digital sales as well

@eat it

Given that it's a largely a console title (search your feelings, you know it to be true), it wouldn't have as many digital sales proportionally compared to major PC titles.

I'm not saying it wouldn't still be the best selling game or whatever, but there's just a large number of sales that are being completely ignored.

@(Unverified) This.

ehhh

@Prboi Calm down.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO000000000000ooooooooooo................

Editor's Note: Those periods are actually very small o's.

Oops, I think you are falling down a hole.

@Hong Dong

I'm just sick & tired of people hating on games & consoles when it's just wasting their time. I see it so much on COD that it becomes bothersome to just "follow the crowd" & hate it like most people do.

Yes, with Madden and Call of Duty, EA and Activision are dominating the ever-increasing broski demographic.

@brightbonewhite
I'd rather have the "bro" market migrating to a few specific games over having other more appealing games (to me) be infected. I would have if Assassin's Creed or Dead Space got the same treatment.

Gears of War is my bro limit.

@Lerkero Careful, I think UbiSoft said something like one AC per year, didn't they? In no time we may be seeing Assassin's Creed Broskihood: Modern Animus Warfare 3...

I wonder how well paid the devellopers are ? Any insiders?

we're really advancing as a society.

@BLipp18

Yes, because every other game besides Call of Duty: Black Ops advances society--especially the ones you play, I'm sure.

well I mean it* should just count as one game since its always the same thing... (Call of Duty franchise*)

@Frank the tank also if any one plays mine craft i just launched my server please don't fade me I'm just lonely..... its 71.224.21.222

@(Unverified)

I agree it is sad,

Also Call Of Duty Sucks

do people really enjoy play the same game over and over again ? they must i guess... ugh .. wanna know a much better game ? BFBC:2

@HardBoiled2009

Kids do. Most (but not all) aren't smart yet.

@HardBoiled2009 im pretty sure if you actually played the game before hating on it you'd have a different opinion. Black ops is as much the same game as modern warfare as super Mario bros 2 was the same as super Mario bros, actually much less so

@Nova17899 Seriously ,Mario bros 1 resembles more mario galaxy than it does mario bros 2.

Bad example

@Ballistic H
Wow, you're clever. And wrong, too--but I guess we can overlook that for the sake of that finely crafted zinger.

@HardBoiled2009

Kids and tweens = COD

Adults = BFBC:2

Also , why is everybody so angry that the game did so well ? (serious)

@Chanka

My question exactly. Activision must have kidnapped their families & forced them to buy the map packs

@Chanka

I think people are upset over the completely broken multiplayer and all the cheating thats going on. Nevermind the extremely dissapointing single player campaign thats become a staple of the series (in a bad way) for each game after the original modern warfare. The game is extremely flawed and just didn't live up to the hype. I bought it, beat it and ended up trading it in because the multiplayer was unplayable.

@Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell

Broken Multiplayer, Cheating, Unplayable... I think you're looking for the Modern Warfare 2 board.

Thank God Treyarch came along to erase the memory of that online failure.

Disgusting. I can't wait for them to finish Tony Hawking/Guitar Hero-ing the series. After Modern Warfare 1, the series gas blown big time. Wanna know a better game? The original Super Mario Bros.

How I miss Mario

@Jawmuncher back in the day mario not present day =(

This is crazy.

@Prboi
I love raining on parades.

That's why they call me......The Rainman

YEEEEEAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!

i want to say society is dumb but i bought the game too :(

it's not that bad. just killzone 3 is my new love for ps3.

I work at GameStop and most of the people who buy it today are 360 owners who got that ring scratch from the first copy. Or second. Or third....

It's sort of overstated by whats sold vs how many different individuals bought it. It's not unlike 360 or DS hardware numbers from those who bought the system or its different iterations multiple times.

@Prboi

You do realize that this is an article about Black Ops selling over 13 million copies right? It's safe to say this "crowd" of "most people" you speak of aren't hating but instead appreciating.

True moral of the story is: If you don't want to see people hating on something, get off the Internet.

@(Unverified) Not so much sad as it is terrifying.

@(Unverified)

It is sad.

I would like to know how many of these people bought this game based on the 'Call of Duty' title alone, then were disappointed at the game they had purchased when they actually played it.

@(Unverified)
Correct. If this wasn't a CoD game it wouldn't have sold well. It's a great seller based on the title and not gameplay.

@(Unverified)

I bought it, enjoyed it, and was not disappointed. It got the awful taste of Modern Warfare 2 out of my mouth.

| 1 | 2 | 3 | Most Recent | Next 50 Comments

Sorry, you must be logged in to leave a comment.

Breaking News

The most popular posts
in the last 7 days

Rumor: Japanese Vita devs jumping ship, Sony responds 124 comments
Buy 2 get 1 free on select Vita games at GameStop starting today 114 comments
Sony's Rohde: proprietary Vita cards 'completely necessary' to combat piracy 112 comments
Sony: Call of Duty blasting onto Vita this fall 89 comments
Asura's Wrath review: Wrecking the curve 84 comments

Call of Duty: Black Ops

NPD: Call of Duty: Black Ops is the US's best-selling game ever

Reader Comments (122)

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 7:48PM Jhoalot said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 7:48PM Ezio Auditore da Firenze said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 7:50PM Prboi said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 7:50PM wallywallas said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 7:51PM Rollins said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 8:09PM IrateGamer said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 9:49PM Haggard said

Posted: Mar 11th 2011 12:10AM darkfocus said

Posted: Mar 11th 2011 6:26AM Rollins said

Posted: Mar 11th 2011 10:17AM eat it said

Posted: Mar 11th 2011 10:22AM Rollins said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 7:51PM geniuswithagun said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 7:52PM EDZiLLUH said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 7:53PM Hong Dong said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 7:54PM SpartacusMagnus said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 11:12PM GordoJones88 said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 7:55PM Prboi said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 7:55PM brightbonewhite said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 8:25PM Lerkero said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 8:31PM brightbonewhite said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 7:55PM Chanka said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 7:56PM BLipp18 said

Posted: Mar 14th 2011 11:12PM Brian Griffin said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 7:57PM Frank the tank said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 8:00PM Frank the tank said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 7:57PM HardBoiled2009 said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 7:59PM HardBoiled2009 said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 8:06PM Ballistic H said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 8:19PM Nova17899 said

Posted: Mar 11th 2011 11:59AM konali said

Posted: Mar 12th 2011 4:49AM Brian Griffin said

Posted: Mar 14th 2011 3:48PM Marco le Polo said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 7:59PM Chanka said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 8:05PM Prboi said

Posted: Mar 11th 2011 2:16PM Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell said

Posted: Mar 11th 2011 6:04PM Brian Griffin said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 7:59PM Schlecht said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 7:59PM Jawmuncher said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 8:36PM Frank the tank said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 8:00PM Bigguppies said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 8:01PM Jawmuncher said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 8:22PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 8:04PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 8:06PM Master Marik said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 8:08PM The Joy of Painting w Bob Ross said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 8:08PM jonnyjon91 said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 8:09PM Ballistic H said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 8:09PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 8:17PM imtheman said

Posted: Mar 11th 2011 5:56PM Brian Griffin said

Call of Duty: Black Ops Info

Description

MSRP

Release Date

Genre

Developer

Publisher

Rating

Breaking News

Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs is the next title from Frictional Games and Dear Esther dev

Featured Stories

Building A Machine for Pigs and expanding the universe of Amnesia

Persona 3, Tactics Ogre, and other PSP RPGs that will live on my Vita

Tekken 3D Prime Edition review: Far from prime edition

The most popular postsin the last 7 days

Engadget

TUAW

Massively

WoW

The most popular posts
in the last 7 days