'Call of Duty' conquered video game market in 2015

The "Call of Duty" video game installment released in November went on to rule the market, becoming the top-selling title last year at retail outlets, according to industry tracker NPD Group.

Blockbuster sales of "Call of Duty: Black Ops III" pushed overall sales for the franchise past 250 million copies, video game publisher Activision said Thursday in a blog post.

"Thanks to the community's continued support, 'Black Ops III' was the top-selling game of 2015 worldwide," Activision communications manager Scott Lowe said in the post.

Activision proclaimed "Call of Duty: Black Ops III" the top-selling title of 2015 globally "by a wide margin in both units and dollars."

The game racked up more than $550 million in sales in the three days after its release on November 6, according to California-based Activision Publishing, a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard.

Overall video game sales last year tallied $13.1 billion, essentially unchanged from the prior year and driven by titles tailored for new-generation PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles, according to figures released by NPD.

Black Ops III is the 12th game in the series, testimony to its longevity and ability to reinvent itself, all the while earning it a loyal following of tens of millions of fans.

The latest mission in the first-person shooter franchise sends players into a "dark and twisted future."

This time the action is set in the year 2065. Climate change has spawned fierce competition over scarce resources. Highly effective anti-aircraft systems mean fighting takes place on the ground, often in covert or "black" operations.

"Black Ops III" was created by Treyarch studio and published by Activision.

The second-selling video game last year was Madden NFL 16, a US football-themed title published by Electronic Arts.

Rounding out the top-five list by sales at stores were, in descending order, "Fallout 4," "Star Wars: Battlefront" and "Grand Theft Auto V," according to NPD.