MGS5: The Phantom Pain made over twice as much as Avengers: Age of Ultron on launch day

Launch day sales of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain is worth over double that of Avengers: Age of Ultron's opening day.

According to a new Adobe Digital Index report, Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain made $179 million worldwide on its first day on sale. That's over twice as much as Avengers: Age of Ultron's opening day box office earnings.

The number represents revenue, but it's not clear if it's taking into account digital sales. It is still a huge amount, considering the different in production budgets between the two - $250 million for Age of Ultron and $80 million for The Phantom Pain.

"The gaming industry is a lot bigger than most marketers realize," Tamara Gaffney, principal analyst and director at Adobe, said.

"These games get more social buzz on opening day than most movies do, and the revenue for one of the top games this year outdid the highest-grossing movie start [Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 with $91 million] by nearly double."

Konami's future in AAA games development is unclear. On one hand, reports continue to claim the publisher is abandodining the industry to focus on its mobile and pachinko divisions. On the other, Konami keeps denying these reports.

All that being said, comparing movie opening day revenges to that of games remains disingenuous. For one thing, movie tickets don't cost $60, and despite ballooning game production costs, they are still nowhere near as expensive as even the mid-tier summer blockbusters.

Thanks, VentureBeat.