Modern Warfare 3's billion-dollar milestone: By the numbers

Gaming giant Activision launched the latest installment of its Call of Duty franchise on Nov. 8, and already, the game is breaking loads of sales records. To gloat about its success, Activision once again "compared the sales performance of COD with major Hollywood releases," says T.C. Sottek at The Verge. In 2009, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 eclipsed the first-week box office receipts of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and The Dark Knight. This year, Activision says Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 took down Avatar. Here, a by-the-numbers look at MW3's golden November:

16

Days it took Modern Warfare 3 to reach $1 billion in sales

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2

Months it took Modern Warfare 2 to reach $1 billion in sales in 2009

17

Days it took Avatar to hit $1 billion in sales

$59.99

Suggested retail price for Modern Warfare 3

$10

Average price for Avatar tickets in 2009, according to Box Office Mojo

8.9 million

Number of copies of Modern Warfare 3 sold in November

6.5 million

Number of those copies sold in the first 24 hours

$775 million

Sales of Modern Warfare 3 in the first five days

$3 billion

Total video game hardware, software, and accessories sold in November, according to research firm NDP

$18.1 billion

Total video game hardware, software, and accessories sold from December 2010 to November 2011

6 million

Number of players who joined Call of Duty Elite — an online service that allows gamers to better communicate and strategize, among other things — since the game's Nov. 8 launch

1 million

Number of players who signed up for premium Call of Duty Elite subscriptions in the first six days

$50

Cost of annual Call of Duty Elite subscription

1 year

Time it took Netflix, Hulu Plus, XBox Live, and Sirius XM to each reach 1 million paid subscribers, according to Activision

Sources: Activision, Amazon, Box Office Mojo, CNET News, GamaSutra (2), MSNBC, Reuters/The Wrap, The Verge