Day one for Activision's Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 was a good one, with $310 million in sales reported on opening day alone in North America and the United Kingdom.

That equates to over 4.7 million copies of the game being sold at launch. Of that number, 1.2 million were sold in the UK, with the rest being grabbed up by hungry US gamers.

"The Call of Duty franchise has become a cultural phenomenon showing the power of video games as an entertainment medium," said Mike Griffith, CEO, Activision Publishing. "The shattering of these entertainment records is a testament to the compelling, cinematic and uniquely engaging experience that the Call of Duty brand delivers. Modern Warfare 2 has taken interactive experience to unprecedented heights setting a new standard for entertainment."

The $310 million launch sales figure makes Modern Warfare 2 the biggest entertainment product launch in history, shattering the previous record held by Halo 3, which had $170 million in sales on its opening day.