Black Ops five-day sales hit $650 million

Treyarch's Call of Duty: Black Ops was released on November 9 to favorable reviews and day-one sales of 5.6 million units, bringing in $360 million for publisher Activision. The Cold War-era title bested Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's 4.7 million unit, $310 million haul and stole away the "biggest entertainment launch of all time" title from Infinity Ward.

Black Ops won't be stopping at first-day sales records, as Activision announced today that the game generated $650 million in its first five days of availability on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, DS, Wii, and PC. According to Activision, that tally bests all five-day sales for films, games, and books. It also outdoes Modern Warfare 2's five-day take of $550 million from a year ago.

Black Ops has set two new Xbox Live records, as well. According to Microsoft's statistics, more than 2.6 million unique users played more than 5.9 million multiplayer hours on launch day through Xbox Live. One million of those users apparently began playing on Xbox Live by 1 a.m. PST on November 9.

Although online statistics were not provided for the PS3, Sony Computer Entertainment of America president and CEO Jack Tretton said the game is driving "unprecedented traffic" to the PlayStation Network.

Black Ops is also proving popular for specialty retailer GameStop. The company's CEO Paul Raines said the shooter not only had the highest number of preorders on record, but it also became the retailer's "biggest launch ever."

For more on the shooter, check out GameSpot's review of Call of Duty: Black Ops.