'Call of Duty: Black Ops' blows away sales records

(Activision)

"Call of Duty: Black Ops" rang up 360 million dollars in sales in North America and Britain on its first day to become the highest-grossing entertainment launch ever, the videogame's publisher said on Thursday.

Activision said "Call of Duty: Black Ops" had eclipsed Hollywood's biggest blockbusters and its predecessor, "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," which raked in 310 million dollars on its first day a year ago.

"Call of Duty: Black Ops," which was released on Tuesday, sold 5.6 million copies in North America and Britain alone on its first day compared to 4.7 million copies for last year's "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," it said.

"There has never been another entertainment franchise that has set opening day records for two consecutive years and we are on track to outperform last year's five-day global sales record of 550 million dollars," Activision Blizzard chief executive Bobby Kotick said.

"The Call of Duty franchise has over 25 million players around the world that are engaged in billions of hours of online gameplay," Kotick said.

"The Twilight Saga: New Moon" holds the record for the top single-day box office ever for a Hollywood movie, taking in 72.7 million dollars a year ago, according to Hollywood.com.

"Call of Duty: Black Ops" is the seventh title in a franchise that has won a devoted following since the first version was released in 2003.

The latest installment takes gamers on a series of Cold War-era military adventures.

"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" was last year's biggest grossing console game with more than 20 million units sold around the world.

Marketing firm IDC forecasts that 11.7 million copies of "Call of Duty: Black Ops" will be shifted in the United States alone by the end of the year.