Modern Warfare 2 launch aims to eclipse Halo 3, GTA IV
by Randy Nelson 
{ Jun 18th 2009 at 10:55PM } 
In order to accomplish this, MW2 will need to surpass some established launch sales triumphs. The first is Halo 3, with 1.7 million copies moved on day one in fall 2007. More recently, Grand Theft Auto IV took the title of "biggest launch" thanks to first day sales of 3.6 million units. At this point, we think Activision needs to be less concerned with its game being huge -- it will be -- and more focused on ensuring PSN and Xbox Live don't utterly die when it hits stores November 10.
[Via GI.biz]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Sly [PSN SniperChameleon] @ Jun 18th 2009 11:04PM
how is this surprising? it's activision for god's sake. of course they want it to have an amazing launch! i know at least half the guys in my school are gonna be skipping school on november 10. always happens when there's a major shooter release.
roger @ Jun 18th 2009 11:06PM
I can really see that happening, and they will have on sale with me on day one.
B3astofthe3ast @ Jun 18th 2009 11:06PM
The lack of a "call of duty" brand might hurt it's chances.
Sly [PSN SniperChameleon] @ Jun 18th 2009 11:08PM
not really. i know a lot of people who didn't even notice they took off the call of duty, and just call it call of duty 6. it's probably not going to noticeably affect sales.
james @ Jun 18th 2009 11:10PM
holy shit, i never even noticed it was missing the COD name till you mentioned it. I guess i automatically just associated in my mind once i saw modern warfare 2.
TheAngryGamer @ Jun 18th 2009 11:17PM
I don't entirely agree with this. I know there's a lot of brand recognition with "Call of Duty", but personally, I'm not a fan of the series at all. WWII games don't excite me. On the other hand, CoD4: MW was amazing. I didn't buy it because it was a CoD game. I bought it because it was modern, and looked amazing. I wasn't let down at all. I didn't buy CoD: WaW because it was back to the same old "Call of Duty". I'm kinda talking in circles here, but I think there's more than a few people who will agree with me when I say that I will absolutely be buying MW2 on Day One, and to be honest, there's at least a small part of me that is thrilled that it won't have the "CoD" stigma holding it back.
This is all of course, my preference/opinion. I also happen to believe that CoD:WaW wouldn't have been half as successful, had CoD4 not paved the way. To further that point, CoD4's success had (in my opinion) very little to do with the success of CoD3.
Crusty Magic @ Jun 18th 2009 11:39PM
Retailers are marking it with a 'Call of Duty' tag next to Modern Warfare 2.
At least in my area they are.
Iroquois @ Jun 19th 2009 2:15AM
I'm kindah sick of people calling it Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 lol. I mean it's kindah just a pet peeve I guess.
As a side note, wasn't the rumor/story that CoD6 was gonna be in Vietnam?
Cr4sh Dummy @ Jun 19th 2009 4:19AM
It's not gonna hurt them, the bottom line is it all comes down to marketing. And Activision can certainly do that effectively.
Boff @ Jun 19th 2009 5:42AM
Everything 'TheAngryGamer' said.
My sentiments exactly.
philifan8169 @ Jun 18th 2009 11:07PM
I think it can easily put up big numbers like those, pretty much everyone i know of who's buying it is going to get it at mid night....agreed xbox live please hold up or so help me god ill take those stupid free arcade games that we get for our troubles and shove them where the sun don't shine!!!!
Sly [PSN SniperChameleon] @ Jun 18th 2009 11:07PM
i'm sure it'll at least sell more than halo 3 at release. beating GTA4 would be one hell of an accomplishment though.
Hexen @ Jun 18th 2009 11:07PM
It should pass them since it's coming to more platforms but it probably won't touch GTA's numbers.
Perno @ Jun 18th 2009 11:09PM
No way will it beat GTA IV, it's a little too niche. It will beat Halo 3 if only due to multi platform. I won't be buying it for myslef, feel free to gift it though.
InFaMoUs1- @ Jun 18th 2009 11:16PM
I'm buying this game so yay!
Ubiqutous Oxymoron @ Jun 18th 2009 11:18PM
Is the (superior) pc version coming out on the same day?
Hexen @ Jun 18th 2009 11:30PM
Is it getting foggy here?!! I guess is just the smog coming from you post.
maveric101 @ Jun 19th 2009 1:02AM
Hexen, you mean the smug?
bigblue2012 @ Jun 18th 2009 11:21PM
This game will seem like nothing compared to MAG. If MAG comes out the same time MW2 does then It will not sell well I think. Sure maybe popularity but MAG is a new revolution. Sorry COD but your game falls way short of the bigtime sony exclusive.
Nathan @ Jun 18th 2009 11:39PM
That's just fanboyism right there. No way a brand new IP will outsell an VERY established IP..especially when you have to go by what the people are generally looking at when looking at MAG vs MW2.
MAG was pushed back 2 weeks after MW2 recently. People who made MAG's last game? SOCOM: Combined Assault, FAIL. MW2 makers last game? CoD4 = WIN. Not to mention everyone, including myself is worried that Zipper will drop the ball with 256 players if they don't have the right amount of dedicated servers..granted I have both MAG and MW2 on reservation, but looking more forward to MW2 as it's a better game and developing company (Infinity Ward).
ifalldownstairs @ Jun 18th 2009 11:42PM
wow, you're an idiot. are you trying to say MAG will sell better than MW2 (hahahahahaha), get better reviews than MW2 (not going to happen), or something else?
deaftly @ Jun 18th 2009 11:50PM
MAG will be lucky to outsell Shadowrun
Kill a mans jiro @ Jun 18th 2009 11:51PM
sorry bigblue, but MAG would never outsell COD, the devs know this too, they have said it themselve in not so much words this is why they are releasing MAG in 2010.
Its no secret that MW1 DOMINATED peoples minds, MAG is a new ip not everyone knows about this.
Sly [PSN SniperChameleon] @ Jun 18th 2009 11:55PM
kill, the current release is in november... not 2010...
Lunastra78 (PSN: lunastra78) @ Jun 19th 2009 12:24AM
bigblue2012 is probably just Sprinkles posting as a sony fan to give the impression that someone out there is as retarded as he is. :p
ohyeahcola @ Jun 19th 2009 1:20AM
the only way that will ever happen is if activision drops it (like with brutal legend) and then sues the company that picks it up
Cr4sh Dummy @ Jun 19th 2009 4:03AM
MAG is going to have a lot of blots when it's released, don't think it will be pristine game on day one. Moreover, Modern Warfare 2 on the other hand, which is being developed by an acclaimed developer, is already a polished game that is building upon the success of the last installment. You're logic is erroneous.
JXCgunrunna @ Jun 19th 2009 7:29AM
Zipper is an acclaimed dev too. SOCOM has dont well for itself over the years. It was the only good shooter on the Playstation for years and years
Mr Clickerson @ Jun 20th 2009 12:03PM
Mag is nothing new. BF2 brought to the console. I'll take any CoD or MW2 over BF2 any day. :l
Scotty P @ Jun 18th 2009 11:26PM
I was totally stoked to get this game until I read about the first 2 map packs being timed exclusives for the 360. Probably not going to buy it now becuase of that. Maps are the biggest part of a game like that, and to exclude ( for a while at least)all ps3 owners is a slap in the face.
BigFat @ Jun 18th 2009 11:36PM
Somebody's a little too sensitive :_(
Kill a mans jiro @ Jun 18th 2009 11:48PM
Where did u hear this? Thats a little stupid -.- i have to WAIT to play a map pack while everyone else bangs it out all night long? now ima have to get this on both consoles too.
BigFat @ Jun 18th 2009 11:51PM
http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/01/modern-warfare-2-map-packs-hitting-xbox-live-first/
Kill a mans jiro @ Jun 19th 2009 12:03AM
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p278/lammal412/VaderscreamsNOOOOOOOOO.jpg
Nick @ Jun 19th 2009 2:51AM
That's an awfully stupid reason not to buy a game.
Tyler @ Jun 19th 2009 5:00PM
I'm sure it will be a few weeks at the most. Maybe Microsoft is being little bitches and saying that bc PSN releases stuff only on Thursdays (usually).
nriveraexpress @ Jun 18th 2009 11:25PM
xbox live should be fine but the psn is really gona tank...go ahead call me a fan boy i dont care, the truth hurts doesent it!
InFaMoUs1- @ Jun 18th 2009 11:32PM
nah your right.. I'm the fanboy though and trust me PSN servers will take a big hit that day
chris @ Jun 18th 2009 11:34PM
Thats funny I don't ever remember the psn being down for a week around christmas, Yeah I was still playing online, Where you? Oh how much do you pay for that again?
Sly [PSN SniperChameleon] @ Jun 18th 2009 11:37PM
i have a feeling that both services are gonna end up alright, maybe one or two days of problems at most. and chris, it's less than $5 a month. that's hardly anything. that's coming from a ps3 fanboy.
chris @ Jun 18th 2009 11:41PM
Sly, yeah I know I payed it at one point too. Just got to poke a rib every now and again. It's the point that the psn is still free, and just as good for online play. I still think the psn lags less than live.
Kill a mans jiro @ Jun 18th 2009 11:44PM
PSN will NOT go down lol Nor will Xbox live they will both be flooded with high volumes that day but PSN wont go down it never has, what is ure thory based on?
& @ Sly, personaly i think xbox live should be free, remeber the period when thousands on xbox live went wild changing thier xbox personal messege to "Xbox live should be free" and "Make xbox live free" i do was funny lol, i remeber playing gears 1 and this dude was telling me how everyone was doing it. I did it too, didnt change n e thing but still
InFaMoUs1- @ Jun 18th 2009 11:45PM
hey remember LBP shitty online launch? Also Socom had the most horrible servers until they finally fixed them months later. PSN is good most of the time.. but a game at launch on PSN is almost always laggy.
BigFat @ Jun 18th 2009 11:46PM
@chris
your just setting yourself up for a "Ps3 didn't have the install base to crash the servers" comment.
just letting giving you a heads up:)
InFaMoUs1- @ Jun 18th 2009 11:47PM
oh and ofcourse the PSN wont go down but the game itself will be really laggy on the PSN.
chris @ Jun 18th 2009 11:57PM
bigfat, yeah man I know what some fanboy is going to say, but 7 million less consoles and 30 percent dead 360s I'd say the install base is fairly close and even closer when you consider the amount of people playing online.
InFaMoUs1- Yeah I remember that, but I also remember no problems with COD and how flawless warhawk ran. Also remember how bad halo 3 was till they fixed it?
Anticrawl @ Jun 19th 2009 12:07AM
To put in perspective the last time I checked the unique user count there were 14 million unique players on the 360 COD4 and 4 million unique PSN users on COD4.
TheLionOfAzzalle @ Jun 19th 2009 12:13AM
^^^^^Interesting stat there anticrawl. Thanks for that.
As for Live vs PSN I think both will be severely affected by the game.
Although to be honest I don't think that's acceptable. By now both companies (MS & sony) should realize what a huge game this will be and SHOULD be taking key steps ensure that nothing like that happens on Day 1. Especially MS since they are charging it's users for the right to play online.
Anyways the operative word there is SHOULD. And since when has a company done what it should do 100% of the time?
Personally I'm gonna wait a few weeks b4 getting MW2 if I decide to buy it at all that is. Cuz I'm really more interested in several other multiplat games coming out this fall. Like AC2 for instance.
chris @ Jun 19th 2009 12:16AM
considering the game didn't sell 14 mill there must be some skewed numbers there somewhere.
JXCgunrunna @ Jun 19th 2009 12:46AM
the game sold easily over 14 million. actually, it was over 14 million at january 3rd 2009 just on the PS3 and 360. that doesnt count for the millions of pc players and all the people who cant get to xbox live and PSN