Activision announced today that the newest member of its “Call of Duty” franchise, “Black Ops II,” has grossed $1 billion in the 15 days since it Nov. 13 release. The sales have exceeded the games predecessor, “COD: Modern Warfare 3,” which reached the $1 billion mark after 16 days. By comparison, the highest-grossing film of all time, “Avatar,” reached the $1 billion sales benchmark after 17 days.

“The release of “Call of Duty” has been one of the most significant entertainment events of each of the last six years,” Activision CEO Bobby Kotick said in a company press release. “Since “Call of Duty” was launched, cumulative franchise revenues from players around the world are greater than current worldwide box office receipts to date for the top-10 grossing films of 2012 combined. Life-to-date sales for the “Call of Duty” franchise have exceeded worldwide theatrical box office receipts for “Harry Potter” and “Star Wars,” the two most successful movie franchises of all time.”

Investors paid little mind to the news, however, and Activision shares rose less than 1 percent in afternoon trading, remaining down about 8 percent for the year.

Analysts were skeptical, as well. Atul Bagga of Lazark Capital, for example, noted that the release of “Black Ops II” included Black Friday, while “Modern Warfare 3” did not. Plus, although Activision touted the game’s 150 million hours logged online for gamers playing “Black Ops II” on Xbox Live and the Playstation Network, Bagga said fewer players were logging hours than in previous versions, “suggesting some decline in engagement.”

Piper Jaffray analyst Michael Olson was somewhat more positive. Although he believes unit sales of “Call of Duty” are down, the “gross sales upside is being driven by digital annual pass sales,” referring to gamers who pre-purchase planned digital expansion packs for the game. Still, Olson views the $1 billion in 15 days as positive, “particularly in conjunction with data points suggesting Skylanders software units are up 287 percent year over year,” referring to Activision’s children’s gaming franchise.

[Image via Activision]