Activision Blizzard, the biggest U.S. video game publisher by market capitalization, said its game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 crossed $1 billion in sales since its launch on November 8.

The company, whose most profitable franchise World of Warcraft, generated $1 billion in revenue for the company last year, also said its new children's game Skylanders has sold better than its expectations.

Activision is expected to face stiff competition from rival Electronic Arts' whose multiplayer game based on the Star Wars movies releases on December 20.

Shares of Activision were down 1.6 percent at $12.05 in Monday morning trade on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Sayantani Ghosh in Bangalore; Editing by Esha Dey)

Call of Duty