Activision: Call of Duty 4 top 2007 title

[UPDATE 2] Publisher claims global sales for modern-day shooter exceed 7 million units.

When the industry stat-trackers at NPD Group released their December sales figures last week, Microsoft's Xbox 360 exclusive Halo 3 was proclaimed the software sales king for 2007 in the US with 4.82 million units sold. That tally edged out Wii-exclusive Wii Play's 4.12 million units and the Xbox 360 version of Activision's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, which sold 3.04 million copies.

However, while Halo 3 may have won the fight in the US, it did not win the war for 2007. Activision today claims Call of Duty 4 has ended its 2007 tour of duty with 7 million confirmed units sold worldwide, making it the top-selling title across all platforms for the year. Activision said it had pulled its data from NPD Group, Chart Track, and GfK Group.

Developed by Infinity Ward, Call of Duty 4 was released November 5 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, and Nintendo DS.

[UPDATE] As impressive as Call of Duty 4's 7 million units sold figure is, it is still short of the 8.1 million units of Halo 3 Microsoft announced had been sold in 2007. While the discrepancy wasn't explained in Activision's announcement today, it is likely the publisher's figure pertains to units that have actually made it into gamers' hands, whereas Microsoft's tally amounts to total units sold to retailers. Activision had not responded to requests for clarification as of press time.

[UPDATE 2] While Activision claims to have sold 7 million worldwide, the publisher later clarified its statement, saying that its figure only encompasses North America, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Benelux. No Asian countries were included in the tally. However, the oversight isn't likely to cost COD4 the 2007 software crown, as the PS3 and 360 versions of the game have been one of the few non-Nintendo platform titles to crack the Japanese top-30 sales charts on a consistent basis.

255 Comments

  • Corlist

    Posted May 11, 2008 6:12 am PT

    You can see quite a few videos on YouTube if you want to get the Ghillies in the Mist achievement.

  • StinkyGrandma

    Posted Apr 11, 2008 4:53 pm PT

    Have any of you ever beaten "All Ghillied Up" on Veteran without alerting any enemies?

  • CokaColaKid

    Posted Mar 19, 2008 8:40 pm PT

    Anybody know if Cod4 is coming out with an expansion for the PC?

  • frankfurter209

    Posted Feb 8, 2008 4:06 pm PT

    Call of Duty 4 doesn't deserve that many sales when probably half the owners can't play online and are stuck with a 5 hour campaign

  • NocturnalCut

    Posted Jan 31, 2008 3:57 pm PT

    Halo 3 was released 2 months before Call of Duty 4...

    Call of Duty 4 was only released for less than 2 months in 2007.... Of course they aren't going to sell as many copies as Halo 3. I think when all is said and done... Call of Duty 4 will sell far more than Halo 3... Playstation 3 sales are tiny still.. wait til the system gains momentum going into summer 2008. Call of Duty 4 is the best shooter on PS3 since resistance fall of man...

  • thebeast619

    Posted Jan 29, 2008 12:23 pm PT

    @flydutchdog that is true but an extra month is a big advantage regardless if is on more than one system. but good point

  • Devvy01

    Posted Jan 29, 2008 6:55 am PT

    so if I work this out right (current US population of 332 million), 1 in eighty people have bought it? Mmmm... Maybe copies sold to stores but not to people..

  • Jokul

    Posted Jan 29, 2008 6:28 am PT

    ahhh man, I saw the video of the sniper level on this and I gotta get it

  • resident-shell

    Posted Jan 28, 2008 8:54 pm PT

    I don't really care about the sales of these games because they don't directly affect me. All I know is that these are both fantastic franchises and, setting aside which one did better, they have both sold incredibly well in the short time since their respective releases.

    I'm not much of a Halo fan myself, I own an Xbox360 and I happen to love Call of Duty multitudes more than Halo, but maybe that's because I suck at Halo and rock at Call of Duty. I'm happy with the large sales of the games mostly because it will maybe inspire developers to put the same amount of time and effort into future FPSs as Bungie and Infinity Ward did, because I'd say they're both pretty successful at this point.

  • denter21

    Posted Jan 28, 2008 8:38 pm PT

    YES!! OMG Halo rules and i rule as well b/c i play it and cuz halo got lots of sales it means i havnt wasted my life on xbox live.

    Grow up. The only people who should truly give a rat's ass about video game sales are employees of the companies that make them. Howabout finding some real news Gamespot?

  • flyingdutchdog

    Posted Jan 28, 2008 7:50 pm PT

    @thebeast619

    Hey we all need to remember Halo sales are for just "one" platform (360) and Call of Duty 4 is multiplatform (360, PC DS, and PS3). Anyway both games are great but really unfair to compare the two in sales for that reason alone. Also note that over 3 million of those copies of Call of Duty 4 were sold on the 360 alone.

  • AvIdGaMeR444

    Posted Jan 28, 2008 7:49 pm PT

    Now I do like CoD 4 much better than any Halo. But let's be honest here. CoD 4 was released on PC, Xbox 360, PS3, DS and it STILL couldn't outsell Halo 3...a game that was only on Xbox 360...Way to brag about nothing Infinity Ward.

  • laitheybaby

    Posted Jan 28, 2008 5:33 pm PT

    ps3 owners will tell you that call of duty 4 is a bazillion times better than the "mediocre" Halo, but thats because they dont have the choice between the two. both games are great, dont be ignorant.

  • Gubitz

    Posted Jan 28, 2008 4:04 pm PT

    COD is a great FPS series, hands down the best. Halo is mediocre at best. Resistance 2 is very interesting but can use several fixes. Killzone 2 will be very interesting, Haze will also be something to watch out for.

  • thebeast619

    Posted Jan 28, 2008 3:30 pm PT

    hey we all need to remember that halo was release in september and call of duty not till novemember. so even if halo some how did out sell cod4 it had an extra month+

  • thebeast619

    Posted Jan 28, 2008 3:23 pm PT

    halo is agood game but call of duty is by far better

  • wars45

    Posted Jan 28, 2008 3:08 pm PT

    yes hah ah get in dont khow wot all the fuss isabout halo 3 its just like 2 . killzone 2 will blow it to bits

  • Agermemnon

    Posted Jan 28, 2008 2:52 pm PT

    I would rather they keep it modern day for COD5 or even give Vietnam a look but if it does end up going back to ww2 then ????? think alot of people will be a little baffled by that one .

  • SalarianChemist

    Posted Jan 28, 2008 2:13 pm PT

    FACTS are very important

    Here are some FACTS that are important to remember:

    (1) Halo 3 was released in THREE different forms:
    (a) Halo 3 Legendary Edition
    (b) Halo 3 Limited Edition
    (c) Halo 3 Standard Edition

    (2) Halo 3 Standard Edition sold over 4 million copies, but when you add up ALL THREE of the different Halo 3 versions, it adds up to over 8 million copies sold...this means that Halo 3 is by far the best selling game of 2007.

    (3) Call of Duty 4 sales on Xbox 360, PS3, PC, and Wii do not even come close to the sales of Halo 3 on the Xbox 360...the system that really drives sales of Call of Duty 4 through the roof is the Nintendo DS Portable system. Can you imagine how high the sales of Halo 3 would have been if there was a Nintendo DS version!!!

    Halo 3 is the sales champion...just look in the Guiness Book of World Records...no other game is close. Halo 2 is the #2 game of all time, and even Halo 2 is a very distant second place.

  • marq6969

    Posted Jan 28, 2008 2:03 pm PT

    ok get a clue developers COD$ shold be the standard for all FPS comming up. If you look at upcomming games like turok, turning point, conflict denied ops, frontlines fuel of war, etc..... you can see the difference in quality right off the demo or seeing gameplay footage.Seriously I made a decision Im not gonna buuy any FPS game out there unless it stands up to quality FPS like COD4, However on a more positive note Battlefield bad company looks very impressive!!!!!!!!!!!! go check out the gameplay footage, I just hope they have the same control set up like COD4. I also have been hearing rumors about COD5 being set in back in WW2 are they freakin nuts man I mean seriously what a bunch of idiots!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • fartranger

    Posted Jan 28, 2008 1:43 pm PT

    Nice I love call of duty... It so cool that this Wednesday I going to play against my dad

  • SteeleInd

    Posted Jan 28, 2008 1:30 pm PT

    Not that I'm trying to say Halo 3 is any better than CoD4, but Call of Duty 4's 7 million copies sold is based on it's sales all over the world, on all platforms. Halo 3 was only sold on the 360 and sold 8.1 million, Call of Duty 4 was sold on multiple systems with 7 million.

  • Chief_Kuuni

    Posted Jan 28, 2008 1:09 pm PT

    can't wait to get this game, would have sooner but been broke

  • the_greenzero

    Posted Jan 28, 2008 12:51 pm PT

    Wow 7 million units, that's more than Halo.

  • 8bit16bitsowhat

    Posted Jan 28, 2008 11:30 am PT

    [UPDATE] As impressive as Call of Duty 4's 7 million units sold figure is, it is still short of the 8.1 million units of Halo 3 Microsoft announced had been sold earlier this year. While the discrepancy wasn't explained in Activision's announcement today, it is likely the publisher's figure pertains to units that have actually made it into gamers' hands, whereas Microsoft's tally amounts to total units sold to retailers.

    micro$oft just cant let anyone enjoy there success. retailers are not gamers.

  • Phazevariance

    Posted Jan 28, 2008 11:02 am PT

    COD4 >>> H3 = Fact!

  • klugenbeel

    Posted Jan 28, 2008 10:05 am PT

    "COD4 kicks Halo 3 behind a million times!!! period"

    This is an opinion, not a fact! :-P

    CoD4 is a great game, don't get me wrong, but I still love Halo 3 Multiplayer more than CoD4 overall. There are deffinetly some balance issues needed to be taken care of with CoD4....primarily with MGs...sure in real life MGs do own the world against infantry, but in an online multiplayer, there is nothing more annoying than a team of people just wildly running around with Mgs on small maps. Its just as bad as not getting enough vetos on a Team Duals matchmatcking in Halo 3! :-P

  • iory2

    Posted Jan 28, 2008 9:22 am PT

    "juan99692k6
    COD4 kicks Halo 3 behind a million times!!! period" No it doesn't, but still on the sales matter though those sales are impressive for call of duty 4 they are spread across 4 platforms Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, and Nintendo DS, while halo sold 8.1 million on xbox 360 only.

  • Joaquin0789

    Posted Jan 28, 2008 8:44 am PT

    **Dav_id83**

    Yeah, i heard so too, but i REALLY hope they don't come back to WW2, i'm tired of WW2, the modern days are way better...

  • zeke2040

    Posted Jan 28, 2008 8:36 am PT

    not really into halo at all... thanks god i bought a ps3, my xbox and 360 burnt up for the second time, so i'll go with ps3... thanks god for cod4...

  • juan99692k6

    Posted Jan 28, 2008 7:34 am PT

    COD4 kicks Halo 3 behind a million times!!! period

  • Dav_id83

    Posted Jan 28, 2008 7:07 am PT

    Surly this comfirms now that COD should be kept in modern day combat I heard that COD5 is going back to WW2 not sure if thats true.

  • skee_uk

    Posted Jan 28, 2008 5:06 am PT

    this is certainly goty

    stunning single player that can be replayed with a super online mode

  • 02sfraser

    Posted Jan 28, 2008 4:45 am PT

    an amazing game and without a doubt the best online game i have ever played

  • football_legend

    Posted Jan 28, 2008 4:35 am PT

    Definitely the best military game I ever played. Fantastic Campaign, addictive Multiplayer, Tremendous package. Best of all, All 3 platforms (XBOX 360, PS3 and PC) are utilized perfectly. This is how a Multiplatform game should be made. My only complain and I would love to see it improve on the sequel, COD 6- 2x the Campaign, its just 2 short.

  • football_legend

    Posted Jan 28, 2008 4:33 am PT

    Definitely the best military game I ever played. Fantastic Campaign, addictive Multiplayer, Tremendous package. Best of all, All 3 platforms (XBOX 360, PS3 and PC) are utilized perfectly. This is how a Multiplatform game should be made. My only complain and I would love to see it improve on the sequel, COD 6- 2x the Campaign, its just 2 short.

  • aznballer91

    Posted Jan 28, 2008 2:40 am PT

    ftw

  • NeoNavarro

    Posted Jan 28, 2008 1:34 am PT

    COD 4 is the GOTY!

  • Anabub

    Posted Jan 28, 2008 1:05 am PT

    A great experience and game ...

  • sean_ph

    Posted Jan 27, 2008 10:42 pm PT

    "Infantry Ward did a really good job with the game."

    That's Infinity Ward...

  • snipe2004

    Posted Jan 27, 2008 10:19 pm PT

    i dont know if i can play any other FPS now after COD4 its virtually perfect

  • Jose_Rizal

    Posted Jan 27, 2008 8:55 pm PT

    Mario with his "all-mighty plunger" can whack COD4 and Master Chief to death. LOL. Where are the Wii fanboys? Lets make this three-some. hakhakhak !

  • dholmes19

    Posted Jan 27, 2008 8:54 pm PT

    COD4 definatly my GOTY!

  • murano28

    Posted Jan 27, 2008 8:34 pm PT

    Cod 4 is the best shooter of 2007 and plus all time. And the best multiplayer game of all time!!!

  • ska_dude101

    Posted Jan 27, 2008 7:34 pm PT

    COD4 is my personal GOTY for 2007

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