One cannot understate how important the decision was to release The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion near the launch of Xbox 360, whose ensuing popularity changed the whole trajectory of Bethesda Game Studios.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was hedging a different bet, launching an ambitious fantasy RPG not long after Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.
Remember, this is the series that most other games have famously changed their release dates to avoid competing against, and Skyrim was flying head-first into the firestorm.
It worked, and parent company Zenimax Media announced today more than seven million copies of the game have been shipped worldwide (shipped, not sold), and the game’s “expected” to generate more than $450 million in sales from “launch units.”
By comparison, Modern Warfare 3 generated $400 million in just 24 hours. It’s unclear what timeline Bethesda is referring to, but it’s most likely over a several day period. Either way, it’s ridiculously impressive.