Black Ops 2 takes $500 million in 24 hours

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SANTA MONICA, Calif., Nov. 16 (UPI) -- Black Ops 2, the latest entry in the Call of Duty video game franchise, took in $500 million in sales globally in its first 24 hours of release, its maker says.

"With first day sales of over half-a-billion dollars worldwide, we believe Call of Duty is the biggest entertainment launch of the year for the fourth year in a row," Bobby Kotick, chief executive officer of Activision Blizzard, said in a statement Friday.

Millions of fans lined up for more than 16,000 midnight openings at retail stores around the world to be among the first to grab a copy of the game, PC Magazine reported, and the game's launch trailer has garnered more than 30 million YouTube views since its release on Oct. 29.

"Life-to-date sales for the Call of Duty franchise have exceeded worldwide theatrical box office receipts for Harry Potter and Star Wars, the two most successful movie franchises of all time," Kotick said.

November has been a good month for video game franchises, as the recently released Halo 4 racked up $220 million in sales in its first 24 hours, PC Magazine said.