Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Release is Controversial Best Seller

Many retailers opened at midnight to sell the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The game’s predecessor Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare reportedly sold over 13 million copies and industry experts are already stating that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will threaten some of the all-time records when it comes to early game sales.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is destined to be the biggest seller of this Holiday season. The pricey video game, around $60, is available on the Xbox 360, PS3, and for PCs.

There is plenty of controversy amidst the rave reviews of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. However, the levels of violence in the video game are so controversial that there some are calling for restrictions on the brutual war game.

Many have demanded assurances the game, which allows players to 'kill' innocent civilians, will not be sold or passed to children.

Developed by US company Infinity Ward and published by Activision, Call of Duty: MW2 is rated as mature, for its 'blood, drug reference, intense violence and language'.

The video game's most controversial situation is where the gamer must decide whether to kill unarmed civilians at a Russian airport in order to infiltrate a terrorist group. The scenes have been deemed so shocking Activision has issued warnings and included 'checkpoints' in the game giving players an option to skip some episodes.

Activision more than likely expects some controversy about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, but controversy creates even more buzz about the product, which will be a positive for Activision.

Activision has invested big money into the launch of Call of Duty: MW2. Iaunched its first trailers of the game at a developers' conference in March and followed with a two-week TV blitz in May that included a 60-second commercial during the NBA Eastern Conference finals. On Oct. 4, it spent a hefty $750,000 for a pair of prime-time TV commercials during the San Diego Chargers-Pittsburgh Steelers NFL game.

Despite the potential controversy, the turnouts for the release of the game were as expected -- tremendous. In the U.S., GameStop hosted events at 4,250 of its stores Monday, Nov. 9, 2009, leading up to the midnight release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. This represents the largest number of stores opened for a midnight launch event in GameStop history.

All this controversy surrounding Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 simply equates to profit. Amazon's pre-orders for the game were already higher than any previous video game. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is expected to sell millions of copies in the first few hours after launch.

Cheryl Phillips
HULIQ.com

Sources: Retail Week, Business Week, Activision