Modern Warfare 2 set to smash records
The game, which has had avid gamers trembling with anticipation for the past two years, went on sale yesterday with some stores reporting long queues for special midnight openings. It is expected to beat the €500m sales record set by Grand Theft Auto IV.
On Monday night huge crowds gathered in London’s Leicester Square for the launch of the game, which was more akin to a Hollywood film premiere. Actors in full military attire and even tanks were involved in the glitzy event which saw the game finally hit the shelves. It was the first time Westminster council has granted permission for a games launch in the traditional film heartland.
While the game’s arrival into Irish stores was not quite so glamorous, enthusiastic gamers didn’t seem to mind as they waited for the doors to swing open at midnight.
Keith Leonard, games supervisor at HMV on Grafton Street in Dublin, said the demand for the game yesterday was “phenomenal”.
“It’s already sold today what Fifa 10 sold in a week. We were busy enough last night but today has just been phenomenal. With TV advertising set to really kick in next week, it’s going to get even bigger,” he said.
A spokeswoman for Xtra-vision said the game would easily be the biggest seller of this year and would sell well into 2010.
“We opened over 95 of our stores at midnight last night and sold over 5,000 copies on the night alone which is huge. It will sell well into next year,” she said.
It was the same story at retailer GameStop which also held midnight openings in some of its stores to deal with demand. Smyth’s also said it expected the game to top all lists this year and to smash previous records.
In Britain retailers took more than 750,000 pre-orders while in the US over 2.5 million copies were ordered in advance.
Activision expects that some three million copies could be sold in Britain in the opening week, generating a phenomenal €170 million
The game caused controversy when it was revealed that it included a mission in which the gamer plays an undercover CIA agent – posing as a terrorist – attacking civilians in what appears to be LAX airport.
However, the player is warned about the mission, which can be skipped, and can choose whether to open fire on the civilians or not.
