Record breaking Black Ops 2 makes $500m in 24 hours

The year’s biggest gaming blockbuster Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 has garnered more than $500 million in sales in its first 24 hours.

The exact number of individual game sales has yet to be revealed, but the money generated beats previous record-setter Modern Warfare 3, which had accrued $400m in its first day of release.

It remains to be seen whether Black Ops 2 will also smash past Modern Warfare’s five days sales which generated the title $775 million, even breaking through the $1 billion barrier just 16 days after release

“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,” said Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick.

“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.”