PS3 News: Modern Warfare 3 Sells 12 Million In Week One - PS3 News

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Modern Warfare 3 Sells 12 Million In Week One

Nobody is going to be surprised but when we're talking about one of the fastest selling entertainment products in history, it still qualifies as news.

Sorry.

Estimated first-week worldwide sales for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 came in at a whopping 6.5 million and now, according to VGChartz, Activision's latest has broken yet another record: the one-week sales tally.

The biggest video game launch of all time has resulted in 12 million MW3 copies sold in about seven days. The Xbox 360 version sold 7 million units (57%), the PlayStation 3 version sold 4.8 million (39%), and the Wii/PC versions comprised the final 500,000 copies. The 7+ million for the 360 makes it the single biggest game launch for any console, outstripping last year's Call of Duty: Black Ops. We still have to wait for the NPD numbers before we get more official stats but even so...this is nuts.

Related Game(s): Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Tags: mw3, modern warfare 3, modern warfare 3 sales

11/15/2011 9:00:39 PM Ben Dutka

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Comments (26 posts)

hehateme
Tuesday, November 15, 2011 @ 9:36:00 PM
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thats a crazy number but the game is fun online, and to me does a good job just keeping it simple and fun to play online unlike gears of war they have altered online play so much you can't recognize it from game to game

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godsman
Tuesday, November 15, 2011 @ 10:23:43 PM
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With numbers like that, a developer/publisher can only dream of.

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LimitedVertigo
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 @ 12:30:08 AM
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Why?

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Qubex
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 @ 4:54:07 PM

It's just phenomenal isn't it LV... maybe these are the 2 new religions...the MW3 and Apple cults... Printing money like no.other...

Q!

"play.experience.enjoy"

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AshT
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 @ 1:29:04 AM
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whoa...that many...
Last edited by AshT on 11/16/2011 1:29:25 AM

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Beamboom
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 @ 6:24:08 AM
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MW3 sales:
360: 57%
PS3: 39%

...! Then why on earth were only 27% of the Skyrim sales for the PS3?
Even the few exclusives released for the ps3 this year are shooters, for crying out loud!
Still mw3 sells *much* better (relatively speaking) than Skyrim, one of very few RPGs this year and easily one of the best RPGs this entire generation... WTF is happening here? That whole "we are too busy enjoying our exclusives" argument does not hold water!

Based on these numbers the most obvious conclusion to me is also pretty darn depressing:
PS3 owners are the "twichers" on the scene today and 360 owners are more diverse in their taste and gaming habits.

Any other explanation is welcomed with open arms here cause I don't like my own conclusion at all.

Last edited by Beamboom on 11/16/2011 6:30:12 AM

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Underdog15
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 @ 8:39:25 AM

MW3 is sort of one of those games you get for the social aspect of playing with friends.

That's why I got it. I have 6 or 7 friends that got it who are now all over the country and in other countries. We never see each other often, and when we do, it's never as a whole group. If there's anything the CoD games have done well for me, it's bring us together on a relatively regular basis to catch up and just have a good time together.

Skyrim, on the other hand, is like this.... I think it's 10 times more the game I prefer. Hell, maybe a million times more. But it's single player, and when I'm not playing multiplayer with friends, I still have other SP games to catch up on. So for me, Skyrim is a definite purchase, but it can wait. Why buy it if there's no way I'll have time for it yet?

If it wasn't for wanting to play with my close friends who now live far away from me, I wouldn't even consider MW3. It just doesn't impress me the way it impresses half the rest of the gaming world.

So from my angle, that's my reason for buying MW3 before Skyrim. I'm not 100% satisfied with that decision, but if I saw all my friends playing MW3 together and I didn't have it, I'd be wishing I was chatting it up with them.

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Beamboom
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 @ 9:34:46 AM

Very interesting answer, Underdog. I think you are onto something there.

But still: Should not the exact same mechanics be the case on the 360? Therefore, relatively speaking, the individual split between the two platforms should be much closer to each other, it would just give two different sales curves on *both* platforms?

Last edited by Beamboom on 11/16/2011 9:38:49 AM

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WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 @ 9:50:48 AM

360 owners have fewer games to choose from, they didn't just spend a bunch on Uncharted 3, Skyrim is more stable on 360, and PS3 owners are still bigger fans of JRPGs than WRPGs.

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PSN French
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 @ 10:52:31 AM

Consider this... Skyrim is a game catered to the western gamer. 62% of the gaming systems are X360, and 38% are PS3 in the Americas. So, PS3 owners took a VERY slight attachment rating of this game over 360 owners. Consider that 360 also had Oblivion for a year before PS3 got it (so it's more likely people played the first on the 360 and wish to continue to do so with Skyrim), consider also that 360 gets all DLC first, before PS3. Take all of this into effect and I believe we have a case for PS3 owners being less "twitch" than 360.
Last edited by PSN French on 11/16/2011 11:04:58 AM

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Beamboom
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 @ 10:57:28 AM

World,
Ahaa, so *that's* why WKC sold so incredibly well on the ps3 compared to the Fallouts and Dragon Ages, World. I *knew* it! :)

The 360 guys had their new Gears this autumn, we had a Resistance that noone bought and a Uncharted that everyone bought. Every other game this side of summer are available on both consoles. That makes... Uhm... *one* less game for the 360 or therabouts.

PSN French,
Hmmm... That sounds like a plausible explanation. Excisting fans is of course a very important factor. Do you happen to know if the Oblivion sales were similar skewed?

Last edited by Beamboom on 11/16/2011 10:59:17 AM

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Underdog15
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 @ 12:37:29 PM

I have 3 jRPG fan friends that ditched out on trying WKC because of the reviews, alone. Even then, it's not like it's 9+ quality like an FF game would have brought to the table 10 years ago.

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johnld
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 @ 12:55:18 PM

call of duty is basically the facebook of console videogames. its more of a social network now. as for skyrim, i dont really like wrpgs, i prefer jrpgs. never was into wrpgs and multiple endings was just another reason i dont buy them. closest i bought was demon's souls and they were made by japanese devs i think. also bought mass effect 2 but im kinda losing interest in it. so far i bought batman, battlefield, resistance, uncharted, white knight chronicles 2, dynasty warriors gundam 3, forced unleashed 2($10), and infamous. not to mention all the other games i bought the beginning of the year. i dont dont have anymore cash to spend since i couldnt find a job.

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Oldtree
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 @ 6:32:20 AM
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Well obviously without all that rampant piracy and second hand sales the numbers could easily have been twice that amount...

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Beamboom
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 @ 7:11:26 AM

The piracy, then you refer to the PC version right? I didn't even know there was a cracked version for the ps3 or 360? I would assume most of the sales difference lies in that fact.

But yeah, piracy is really bad, with severe consequences. It nearly screw up the entire PC platform for gaming.


Last edited by Beamboom on 11/16/2011 7:13:16 AM

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WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 @ 9:51:58 AM

360 is easily modded for pirate copies, you just can't go online

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johnld
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 @ 12:56:56 PM

@world

and online is basically what call of duty is all about. only a few people play campaign. everyone on my list, luckily only 4, that have mw3 have only been playing online since launch.

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Highlightreel
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 @ 8:43:53 AM
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Maybe it means that the PS3 users just didn't purchase many games this fall. If the install base is even 'close' as they say it is, this just means that we didn't buy many games. Because there certainly isn't a PS3 game that we bought 6+ million copies of.

Also possibly tells me that those of us who purchased Uncharted 3 didn't buy mw3.

Somewhat disappointing to me too b/c if Skyrim sells 2/1 on xbox, no wonder they get exclusives like early dlc. All Bethesda is doing is catering to their biggest group of fans apparently and who can blame them?

Stay classy PSX... while I sit here at work mad that I'm not home playing Skyrim...

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WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 @ 9:52:47 AM

I'm always mad I'm not playing Skyrim

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WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 @ 9:47:15 AM
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NPD has numbers again?

Who knew there was a Wii version?

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Qubex
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 @ 4:54:57 PM

Lol... "Cult Of Duty"... will be interesting to see what MW4 ends up selling like in 18 months time...

Q!

"play.experience.enjoy"
Last edited by Qubex on 11/16/2011 4:55:07 PM

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Dell Taco
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 @ 10:51:17 AM
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I purchased the Xbox version because the all previous games from Bethesda has had issues with the Playstation 3, and for 60 bucks I want a game I knew that wouldn't be as buggy. I haven't purchased MW3 because I wanted skyrim but most of my friends all play on Xbox but it is funny to see my friends list on the ps3 because most of them are playing battlefield over MW3

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H0TSHELLZ
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 @ 1:08:36 PM
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They got my $100 plus tax.

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ulsterscot
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 @ 1:50:48 PM
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hell I bought MW3 (and BF3) for both my PS3 and PC
Loving the hell out of both games - haven't touched the campaigns yet

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Deleted User
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 @ 2:55:08 PM
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Amazes me how Skyrim gets mentioned everywhere I go. I just don't understand the appeal of it.

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manofchao5
Thursday, November 17, 2011 @ 1:22:29 PM
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uncharted 3 did 3.8 million on just the ps3 in 1 day and cod did 4.8 million in 7, cant wait til quality actually owns the playing field

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