Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 broke records this year as the biggest ever entertainment launch in history. With an estimated 4.7 million units sold in the US and UK during the first 24 hours, it raked in revenues totaling $310 million.

In five short days the game’s worldwide sales escalated to $550 million, dethroning previous record holders Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (only $394m) and The Dark Knight ($203.8m).

“In just five days of sell through Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has become the largest entertainment launch in history and a pop culture phenomenon,” Activision CEO Bobby Kotick said commenting on the game’s success. This is, of course, reflected in the number of people downloading unauthorised copies of the game via BitTorrent.

It is estimated their were over 4.1 million unauthorized downloads of the PC version alone, this means the game more than doubles the achievement of last year’s ‘winner‘ Spore, pushing it into second place. Modern Warfare 2 leads both the PC and Xbox 360 lists, by a landslide – despite only being released 2 months ago.

PC Game Downloads on BitTorrent in 2009

as of December 27, 2009

1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (4,100,000) (Nov. 2009)
2. The Sims 3 (3,200,000) (June. 2009)
3. Prototype (2,350,000) (June. 2009)
4. Need For Speed Shift (2,100,000) (Sept. 2009)
5. Street Fighter IV (1,850,000) (July. 2009)

Xbox 360 Game Downloads on BitTorrent in 2009

as of December 27, 2009

1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (970,000) (Nov. 2009)
2. Street Fighter IV (840,000) (July. 2009)
3. Prototype (810,000) (Feb. 2009)
4. Dirt 2 (790,000) (Sept. 2009)
5. UFC 2009 Undisputed (720,000) (Mar. 2009)

Wii Game Downloads on BitTorrent in 2009

as of December 27, 2009

1. New Super Mario Bros. (1,150,000) (Nov. 2009)
2. Punch-Out!! (950,000) (May. 2009)
3. Wii Sports Resort (920,000) (July. 2009)
4. The House of the Dead: Overkill (860,000) (Feb. 2009)
5. Mario Power Tennis (830,000) (Mar. 2009)