Call of Duty: Black Ops II hit the ground running, and within its first 24 hours in retail stores the game has garnered in excess of $500 million in sales worldwide, according to the game’s publisher Activision. Once again, Call of Duty’s annual arrival remains the biggest entertainment of the year, Activision says. The Call of Duty franchise, which began in 2003, boasts global office receipts that top the Harry Potter and Star Wars films combined, the company said. Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg stated that “Call of Duty has become more than a product people buy, it’s a brand people buy into, and every November we do more than just the launch of a game, we kick off an annual, unofficial but worldwide phenomenon called the Call of Duty season.”