Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Message Board older than one year ago

6.5 million copies in 24 hours. That’s the record-breaking figure Contemporary Combat The Third is celebrating today. Not only does this make it the fastest-selling videogame of all time, but one Robert Kotick, Esq observes that this means “Life-to-date sales for the Call of Duty franchise exceed worldwide theatrical box office for Star Wars and Lord of the Rings.” Only box office, so not DVD/VHS/Blu-Ray/Laser-Disc sales, but even so: wow. Ouch. Wow.

Oh, and Modern Warfare 3 made $400m in the space of that first day, beating prior record-holder CODBLOPS by some $40m. $40m? Pfft, I spend more than that on breakfast every day. That’s why I weigh 418 stone.

Even though everyone knew Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was destined to be a massive hit, Activision (apparently) wasn’t fully prepared for the onsalught of users to access its new online destination, Call of Duty Elite.

Elite is best described as Call of Duty’s expanded answer to Halo's popular Bungie.net service.

“We are having trouble scaling the service to meet demand,” said the company in a statement. “Many of you are trying to get in and unfortunately, you can’t right now. You’re frustrated, we know it, and we know we need to fix it. Our teams have been working non-stop to identify issues and resolve them as quickly as possible. Again, these issues have no impact on the performance of the game.”

Your stats are still being tracked even without Call of Duty Elite fully functioning, so when Activision is able to get everything fully operational, all the data should just plug in without issue.

In order to make sure everything is cool, though, Activision is extending the premium membership for users by 30 days for free. Anyone considering becoming a “founder” will have until the end of the month to ensure that status, and will also receive an additional 30 days when they finally set it up.

“We are committed to Call of Duty Elite for the long haul and are working around the clock to resolve these issues,” continued the statement. “Thank you for your patience and understanding.”

• OXM (95/100): "Sure, we can come up with a list of things we'd love to see from the series - whether it's a revamped campaign approach or a revitalized game engine and aesthetic - but when everything here is this well-executed and offers so many enduring thrills, it's hard to knock it too much. MW3 absolutely delivers."
• Game Trailers (93/100): "As attention spans dissipate, games like this strike the sweet spot of time spent versus reward gained. Yet there's also an extremely deep multiplayer experience where the changes seem minimal but pack a big punch. If you're expecting a huge departure from what's come before you'll be disappointed, but fans will get exactly what they're looking for. World War III shouldn't be this fun."
• Gamespot (85/100): "Whatever diversions or innovations may lie in Modern Warfare 3's future, the competitive multiplayer still offers the same sweet satisfaction you've come to expect from the series. This is some of the best online shooter action around, and with the daunting challenges of Spec Ops and the exciting, globe-trotting campaign, Modern Warfare 3 stands tall as another great descendant of the game that changed a generation. "
• Eurogamer (80/100): "Whatever next year's entry brings, some measure of reinvention will be essential. For now, its exuberant blend of testicular bravado and blockbuster gloss ensures that Call of Duty retains its crown as the shooter genre's biggest, boldest rollercoaster ride for at least one more year."

I should just create a template that gets updated once per year, you know?

Activision’s second quarter earnings call landed on the same day as the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, where it confirmed what we already knew: another Call of Duty will arrive 2012.

If Activision continues its swapped studio development cycle, it’ll be Treyarch up to bat next fall, presumably with a sequel to Black Ops. Whether that bit is true or not hasn’t been announced yet.

Treyarch has been hiring for engineers to bring its “hugely successful game to a new console.” Wii U, anyone?

Modern Warfare 3 is expected to be another massive hit for Activision, predicted to sell as many as nine million copies today.