Black Ops map pack sales pass 18m

It may not be making the social gaming strides many would expect, but it’s impossible argue that Activision’s digital strategy is not paying off.

Speaking in an analyst day conference call yesterday, the publisher said that its digital revenues for the year ending June 2011 have hit $1.7bn.

That’s a year-on-year increase of 22 per cent and 41 per cent up on the comparable 2009 figure.

Gamasutra reports that the success has been attributed to exceedingly strong sales of map pack DLC for Call of Duty: Black Ops, which now number in excess of 18m downloads. They retail for around $15 a piece.

Modern Warfare 2 players bought 11m map packs and World at War players 9m. Gamers now on average spent $76 per copy of Black Ops sold.

Activision expects a further 20 per cent climb on the back of this November’s Modern Warfare 3.

Interestingly, the online Call of Duty community now outnumbers that enjoyed by World of Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo combined – 20m and 15m respectively.