Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II breaks PlayStation sales records

Modern Warfare II is having the best launch ever for a Call of Duty game on the PlayStation Store.

Sony has announced on Twitter that the latest Call of Duty game is the PlayStation Store’s biggest launch of a CoD title to date, as deliberations continue on Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of the series’ publisher.

The official PlayStation Twitter account announced that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II was the “biggest launch EVER” for a Call of Duty game on the PlayStation Store, which includes preorders and day one sales.

The news comes as Sony continues to push back against Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The company has argued to competition regulators in Brazil that Call of Duty is “an essential game” for players and that it “influences users’ console choice” in a bid to prevent the series from potentially becoming an Xbox exclusive.

Congratulations to @InfinityWard and @Activision on the biggest PlayStation Store launch EVER for a Call of Duty game (including preorders and day one sales).

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II is now available for PS4 and PS5! pic.twitter.com/CU9GG853DI

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) October 31, 2022

The acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft is the largest attempted acquisition in video game history, with a sticker value of almost 100 billion AUD. The acquisition is currently under scrutiny by a number of competition regulators across the globe, such as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the United States Federal Trade Commission, and the European Commission.

The deal has already been approved by Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Competition, which said that it has “no objection” to the proposal. Other regulators continue to scrutinise the deal, with the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority recently entering into its Phase 2 investigation, during which a CMA panel will review the merger proposal with fresh eyes and solicit opinions from the public.

Microsoft has offered to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation consoles for three years following its current contract, which already guarantees PlayStation releases for the series for the next three games, an offer that PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan has stated is “inadequate on many levels”. Given the success of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II on the PlayStation Store during its launch, it’s easy to see why PlayStation is so opposed to the potential exclusivity the acquisition could bring — it’s clearly a money maker for the console manufacturer.

Written by Oliver Brandt on behalf of GLHF.