Black Ops II beats Modern Warfare 3 with $500m sales in first 24 hours

Call of Duty: Black Ops II has sold an estimated $500m worth of units in tis first 24 hours.

That beats the $400m made by last year’s Modern Warfare 3 in the same period.

What hasn’t been revealed, though, is how many units the game sold. Modern Warfare 3 managed 6.5m units in its first day. Black Ops II’s unit sales remain a mystery.

With first day sales of over half a billion dollars worldwide, we believe Call of Duty is the biggest entertainment launch of the year for the fourth year in a row,” Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick stated.

Life-to-date sales for the Call of Duty franchise have exceeded worldwide theatrical box office receipts for Harry Potter and Star Wars, the two most successful movie franchises of all time. Given the challenged macro-economic environment, we remain cautious about the balance of 2012 and 2013.”