November 2009 NPD: Modern Warfare 2 tops 6 million

According to sales data published by the NPD Group, for the four-week period ended November 28, 2009 in the US, Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has done what everyone expected and broken the previous sales record set by Halo 3.

The latest in the Call of Duty franchise sold 4.2 million units on Xbox 360 and 1.87 million units on PS3.

“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has achieved the top spot for first-month sales of any game at the title level,” said Anita Frazier. “Halo 3 previously held the spot when it sold 3.3 million units in September ’07 in 12 days at retail. MW2 bested Halo 3’s daily sales rate by 16 per cent in its 19 days at retail in November.”

It wasn’t just Modern Warfare 2 which sold well: New Super Mario Bros. Wii shifted 1.87 million units, Assassin’s Creed II 794,000 (Xbox 360) units, Left 4 Dead 2 (Xbox 360) 744,000 units and Wii Sports Resort 720,200 units.

Wii Fit Plus managed 679,000 units, Assassin’s Creed II on PS3 448,400 units, Dragon Age: Origins on Xbox 360 362,100 units and Mario Kart Wii a further 315,000 units.

Frazier added: “While this year’s top-selling item bested last year’s by 283 per cent it couldn’t make up for softness elsewhere. The top 50 games this year sold 5 per cent less units than did the top 50 last year.”