Call Of Duty: Blacks Ops Saw Growth On The PlayStation 3 In November.

It's a "modern" exclusive if you like. Back in the day, exclusivity meant "absolutely not coming out on any other platforms". That kind of exclusive still exists in some cases, but the numbers are diminishing. That's especially accurate when it comes to third parties, where exclusivity tends to mean "a bit of extra DLC and a joint marketing partnership".

When it comes to Call Of Duty, any competitive advantage is huge for the platform holder attached. Or at least it should be. It's a big deal when Call Of Duty advertisements close with the XBOX 360 logo, especially when the franchise generates such a casual audience. That said, the NPD data for Call Of Duty: Black Ops paints a slightly different picture in North America.

The XBOX 360 version of Black Ops sold a monstrous number of copies throughout November — 4.9 million to be exact. As strong as that number is, the PlayStation 3 version actually saw growth over Modern Warfare 2, shifting a whopping 3.1 million copies of its own. That's an enormous number considering Microsoft's attachment to the Call Of Duty brand. It's a number we actually find quite surprising.

Of course, the winner in all this is Activision. Not only do they see ridiculous numbers, they also get exclusivity incentives from Microsoft and still manage to generate growth on the PlayStation 3. It's like a three-way win for them.

[source gamasutra.com]