Activision: Call of Duty 4 top 2007 title

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.