Even according to the GameStop, the latest Activision game is “the biggest entertainment launch of all time”. Hundreds of gamers gathered at their nearest shops around the world ahead of its release at 00:00 GMT on Nov. 10.
Sales chart of Modern Warfare 2
The “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” game has sold more than 1.23 million copies and grossed around £47million ($77.8 million) on its launch day, going beyond the previous one-day record holder “Grand Theft Auto IV” by a significant margin, according to the reports of UK industry body ELSPA and sales tracker Gfk ChartTrack.
These stats are double the 631,000-unit and £27.2 million ($45.0 million) day-one sale of ‘Grand Theft Auto IV’ launched on April 29, 2008.
"These first day sales figures are astonishing and clear evidence that videogames are now main-stream in the UK," said Michael Rawlinson, director general of the entertainment and leisure software publishers association (ELSPA).
Rawlinson took this opportunity also to promote ELSPA’s PEGI-aligned rating system, which had replaced the BBFC’s rating system later this year.
Response among the gamers
Activision, the publisher of the game—Modern Warfare 2, has predicted the total sale of the game to touch 3 million across the UK.
Some analysts are predicting that it could sell 10 million copies globally since the holiday season is coming.
Robert Kotick, CEO of Activision, described it as "one of the largest entertainment launches of any media of all time".
The game has drawn some criticism as well for one section that involves player joining a massacre of civilians at the airport.
Politicians’ reaction
Labour MP Keith Vaz condemned the Modern Warfare 2 game, saying that he was “absolutely shocked” by the level of its violence.
In response to his comments, Activision replied the scene was, “not representative of overall experience”.
Another Labour MP Tom Watson, though, has come up in defense of the game and set up a Facebook group to defend games such as MW2 from the critics.
"This is specifically intended for an adult audience and accordingly has emotional, adult content," said Rawlinson. "As an 18-rated videogame, it is important that this game is not played by children, and parents should be appropriately vigilant."
Modern Warfare 2 is the sixth installment in the series Call of Duty, which provides players chance to be a member of a military strike force that deals with Russian ultra-nationalist terrorist group.
Now available for PlayStation 3, PC and Xbox 360 for $59.99, the game is rated “Mature”.
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