6.5 Million

Activision Blizzard announced that the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was what it’s calling “the biggest entertainment launch of all time in any medium,” with sales in just the U.S. and U.K. topping 6.5 million games sold in its first 24 hours of release for an estimated $400+ million in revenue. According to Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, “Other than Call of Duty, there has never been another entertainment franchise that has set opening day records three years in a row. Life-to-date sales for the Call of Duty franchise exceed worldwide theatrical box office for Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, two of the most successful entertainment franchises of all time.”

Graeme McMillan is a reporter at TIME. Find him on Twitter at @Graemem or on Facebook at Facebook/Graeme.McMillan. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.

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