According to internal figures released by Activision, opening day sales for its heavily-anticipated game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 smashed records, generating $310 million in 24 hours in North America and the U.K. to become the "the biggest launch in history across all forms of entertainment."

The game shipped worldwide on Tuesday, although Activision has not released sales data from regions other than the U.S. and U.K. The company estimates that roughly 4.7 million copies of the game were sold in the first day of availability in just those two territories.

The previous record-holder, Grand Theft Auto IV, sold 3.6 million copies and generated $310 million worldwide in its first day. If Activision's numbers are correct, Modern Warfare managed to eclipse those figures in only two regions, meaning the game's final worldwide tally is likely to be significantly higher.

And that's simply staggering, as the U.S. and U.K. figures alone dwarf both the record-setting $150 million opening weekend of last year's "The Dark Knight" and the $300 million earned by fellow first-person shooter, Halo 3, in its first week.

Source: Yahoo Plugged In
http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/plugged-in/-modern-warfare-2-breaks-day-one-entertainment-sales-record/1372471