Modern Warfare 3 sells $1B in just 16 days

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 has shattered another record, selling more than $1 billion worth of games in just 16 days of sales, according to Activision Blizzard.

The game is on track to beat last year’s Call of Duty Black Ops as the best-selling game of all time. The revenue record also eclipses the film record set by James Cameron’s Avatar, which hit $1 billion in 17 days in 2009.

Call of Duty now has more than 30 million gamers, a community stretched worldwide. That community is about as big as sustained franchises such as Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and the National Football League, according to the company.

“Engagement of our Call of Duty audience continues to rise around the world,” said Bobby Kotick, chief executive of Activision Blizzard. “Call of Duty as an entertainment franchise has made an indelible mark on popular culture and its broad and continued success is further validation that audiences increasingly value interactive experiences over passive experiences.”

The Call of Duty Elite gamer social network has recovered from its rough start and has more than six million registered players and one million subscriptions sold.