Fending off challenges from Gears of War 3 and Battlefield 3 during their launch weeks, Call of Duty: Black Ops at last met its match this past week—in its successor, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.
Xbox Live's Major Nelson reports Modern Warfare 3 was the console service's most popular game for the past week, in the first week of its release. Basically, Gears of War 3 and Battlefield 3 took their best shot at Call of Duty, couldn't knock it off in the first week of their releases, and then MW3 just strolled in and walked away with it on day one.
The stat tracks unique users, which means someone who played Black Ops on Monday and then abandoned it for Modern Warfare 3 on Tuesday counts toward both titles. Still, it shows that only Call of Duty's latest title could unseat its last one.
According to the Major, the top five are all dudebro shooters—Modern Warfare 3, Black Ops, Battlefield 3, Modern Warfare 2 and Gears of War 3. FIFA 12, the world's biggest selling sports title, came in at No. 6, with Skyrim at No. 7. Halo: Reach held on to No. 8, ahead of this year's Madden 12 with Grand Theft Auto IV, more than three years after its release, still at No. 10.
Among other legacy titles, Halo 3 and the first Modern Warfare, both released in 2007, are still in the Top 20. Call of Duty: World at War, released in 2008, sits at No. 20.
Xbox Live Activity for the Week of Nov. 7 [Major Nelson]
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