million copies, [83] making it the third highest-selling game in the series, behind 2010's Black Ops, and 2011's Modern Warfare 3.

It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 on November 12, 2012, and for the Wii U on November 18 in North America and November 30 in PAL regions. Not all of them paid off, but knowing that the team was willing to eschew the safe route helped ward off any stagnation that may have begun to creep into the series as of late. These changes were introduced to shift the emphasis towards objective-based gameplay, to reward players who work in teams and to make the game more accessible to new players.To end this, Maxis launches three massive nuclear missiles filled with Element 115, the element responsible for the reanimation of dead cells, at the Earth, destroying its atmosphere. Activision had hinted that the game may eventually become available for Nintendo's own consoles, although had no official announcements for the time being.

Players can choose whether to help Maxis or Richtofen, which will have different results once the story ends. Following their battles in Shanghai, Russman leads the group across the continents to a large hole in the ground known as The Rift in Africa, hoping to find answers about the unseen forces commanding them.IGN editor Anthony Gallegos describes the game as "a good example of how to evolve an annualized franchise". Black Ops II received mostly positive reviews from critics, with praise for its gameplay, story, multiplayer, Zombies mode, and villain, but its Strike Force missions had a mixed reception.

On October 28, the Los Angeles court dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that Noriega's inclusion was protected under free speech laws.The majority of the story follows four new characters: Samuel Stuhlinger ( David Boat), Marlton Johnson ( Scott Menville), Abigail "Misty" Briarton ( Stephanie Lemelin) and Russman ( Keith Szarabajka).

The four are contacted by both Richtofen and Maxis, who is now a digital artificial intelligence, for aid against the other. The fact is that everyone loves playing military shooters, but we're also realising that we don't want to glorify aimless killings.After aiding Jonas Savimbi’s UNITA rebels against Angola's Marxist government, Mason and Hudson recover Woods from a barge on the Cubango River, subsequently encountering a Nicaraguan arms dealer named Raul Menendez among a contingent of Cuban military advisers. New characters include: Section's DEVGRU teammates Mike Harper ( Michael Rooker) and Javier Salazar (Celestino Cornielle), their commanding officer Admiral Tommy Briggs ( Tony Todd), the CIA double agent Farid ( Omid Abtahi), US President Marion Bosworth (Cira Larkin), Strategic Defense Coalition leader General Tian Zhao ( Byron Mann), Tacitus Corporation ex-employee Chloe Lynch (codenamed Karma) ( Erin Cahill). If the player is successful, Kravchenko discloses that Menendez has moles inside the CIA, before Woods executes him. c] After wounding or executing Briggs, Menendez uses the Obama 's terminal to hack into a military satellite via a celerium virus he smuggled aboard, seizing control of the entire American drone fleet. Similarly, in the main story missions, there are certain points where the player is given different choices and paths to progress, which could have an effect on the gameplay, as well as the story.