20 million COD Black Ops map packs sold

More than 20 million map packs have been sold for Call of Duty: Black Ops, Activision has bragged.

On Xbox 360, each map pack costs 1200 Microsoft Points. On PlayStation 3 and PC, a set of Black Ops maps costs £11.49.

Now multiply that by 20 million.

"The revenues generated from map packs alone would make it the third largest console title of the year," declared Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg, during an earnings call last night (transcribed by Seeking Alpha).

Black Ops has received four map packs (one more than previous games): First Strike, Escalation, Annihilation and Rezurrection. Previous Call of Duty instalments have only welcomed three map packs.

Combined with retail sales, Hirshberg said Call of Duty: Black Ops was the number-one US and European game for the first nine months of 2011 - despite having been released in November 2010.

Even in the face of big-bucks competitor Battlefield 3, Black Ops held strong.

"Remarkably, before, during and since our competitors' launches, Call of Duty: Black Ops maintained its status as the most played game on Xbox Live, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 remained the second most played game on Xbox Live," said Hirshberg.

"This is pretty incredible given that these titles are 12 and 24 months old, respectively, and are still ranked ahead of several much hyped titles launched this year."

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, released this week, will take much of the limelight from Black Ops. But the latter will also benefit from Call of Duty: Elite, the multiplayer social network and stat tracking service also released this week.