List of the biggest launches in video game history

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is by all accounts likely to be the best-selling video game of all time. It could top 7 million units worldwide on its first day alone, an incredible achievement despite the fact that the economy is still in a pretty weak state.

Here are the biggest sales records in the game industry for opening day sales. At the bottom, we’ve also included a list of the biggest first-week sales for games in a chart from VGchartz. (Note unit and dollar sales don’t correlate due to price differences).

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1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 — 4.7 million copies in North America and UK alone, $320 million, November 2009. Infinity Ward/Activision Blizzard. (Estimated worldwide day one sales: 7 million). Xbox 360, PS 3, PC.

2. Grand Theft Auto IV — 3.6 million copies, $310 million, May 2008. Rockstar Games/Take-Two Interactive. Xbox 360, PC, Ps 3.

3. Halo 3 — 3 million copies, $170 million in U.S., September 2007. Bungie/Microsoft. Xbox 360

4. Halo 2 — 2.4 million copies, $125 million, November 2004. Bungie/Microsoft. Xbox 360

5. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King — 2.8 million copies, $112 million, November 2008. Blizzard Entertainment/Activision Blizzard. PC