Between “Call of Duty: Black Ops” and “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II”, sales totaled over $1.2 billion… in the first 5 days after release. Gamers around the world flocked to stores for midnight releases of the games. Some paid extra, up to $170, to get the special editions of each game, which included working night-vision goggles for MW2 and a camera-mounted RC car for BO.

What has made this game franchise so immense in just 7 years?

With 4 of the top 10 best selling games of all time wearing the COD badge, Activision’s prized possession has dominated the 1st-person shooter arena and shows no signs of slowing down. Modern Warfare III is slated for release in 2011 (if Infinity Ward and Activision work out their differences) and the first set of expansion maps for BO are scheduled for February 1, 2011 (likely at an unheard of price for content downloads: $15-$20).

Our friends over at Milo put together this excellent graphic that graphically tells the story of the game franchise that continues to shatter records and print money. Click the image to enlarge.