Black Ops (Activision)

That’s exactly what insiders and rivals are worried about. Gamers may not choose to buy another title for $59.99, plus the cost of playing online.

“Black Ops” became an instant hit this week as it shattered sales records in the first 24 hours on the market.

The game raked in a cool $360 million with 5.6 million copies sold worldwide. Its success added yet another title to the popular “Call of Duty” franchise.

When “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” was released in 2009, it too shattered records, selling 4.7 million copies in 24 hours and left gamers hooked for most of 2010.

Following a report of a 15 percent drop in software sales last year, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter called for Activision to take charge and force online users to pay to play in order to reverse the downward trend in video game sales.

Pachter said: “We estimate that a total of 12 million consumers are playing ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’ for an average of 10 hours per week on the two platforms’ respective networks, and the continued enjoyment of this game has sucked the available time away from what otherwise would be spent playing newly purchased games.”

The multiple facets of “Black Ops” include intricate missions (which don’t take too long to complete) and the addictive online options, i.e. different battle modes and maps, provide long term entertainment that ultimately lead to the reduction in sales of other games.

“Black Ops” is set during the Cold War where the player controls two characters, Special Forces operative Alex Mason and CIA agent Jason Hudson, who are part of the Studies and Observations Group and are tasked with carrying out missions behind enemy lines.

The game includes locations such as Cuba, Laos, Vietnam and the Ural Mountains in central Russia. The game also builds off “Call of Duty: World at War,” with Viktor Reznov a key character from the Soviet campaign set to return.

Reznov’s voice is played by Gary Oldman, and the game also includes other famous actors such as Ed Harris.

One of the games that could be affected by “Black Ops” success is “Star Wars: Unleashed 2,” which was released Oct. 26 and could lose potential customers to “Black Ops” during Christmas sales.

"Black Ops" is expected to sell 18 million copies by the end of the holiday season and become the most lucrative game in the “Call of Duty” franchise.

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