00:01 – Infinity Ward has officially deployed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. At least a dozen major retailers, including GameStop and Best Buy, participated in more than 10,000 special midnight store openings throughout North America.
“The impact of CoD: Modern Warfare 2 is going to be really huge. We estimate worldwide sales of between 10-13 million units just for 2009,” Wedbush Morgan analyst Edward Woo told TG Daily. “If we assume that half of that figure is generated in the US – at least five million units at 60 dollars a game – that is 300 million dollars, which is a big chunk (almost 3 percent) for a 12 billion dollar industry.”
Woo explained that the recent controversy over dedicated servers and graphic scenes involving terrorists will likely have little or no effect on sales.
“This is obviously an FPS title with a lot of action. Violent interactions are certainly not new to this genre,” said Woo. “The game is out tonight and we are already hearing lots of positive reviews. Yes, expectations are high, but this version of CoD will probably be able to meet those lofty predictions. It is a very impressive game.”
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However, Woo noted that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was “evolutionary, but not revolutionary.”
“CoD: Modern Warfare 2 will definitely raise the FPS industry bar. Yet, it is not a game changer like Grand Theft Auto or Guitar Hero. It is a FPS title and there have been plenty of predecessors,” opined Woo. “Nevertheless, it will certainly make Activision a massive amount of money and help solidify its reputation as a designer of immersive games.”
