"Black Ops" Boasts Explosive Sales

Perhaps country labels should consider the possibility of making album releases into first person shooter video games.

According to an article in the New York Post, Acitivision Blizzard’s Call of Duty: Black Ops game has crossed the $1 billion sales threshold in only 42 days. Though not quite in Avatar territory ($1B in 20 days), this feat easily surpasses the company’s previous smash Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which took 64 days to reach the $1B mark.

To put it another way, Taylor Swift’s Speak Now sold 2.348 million units in the 42 days following its release, according to Nielsen SoundScan. This amounts to roughly $25 million or just 2.5% of the Black Ops sales tally. It’s important to note that the game’s hefty $60 retail sticker makes its figures rise very rapidly compared to a $10 music album.

Part of the appeal, in addition to the immersive environment of gaming, is the capability for online play across a number of platforms (Wii, XBox 360, PS3). Since its release, Black Ops users have logged over 600 million hours playing online, creating remote teams for a kind of collaborative social networking.

So while the idea of Taylor Swift toting automatic weaponry is a bit absurd, a towering figure like Trace Adkins could easily fill the role if given a chance. Just a thought…