Analyst estimates seven million day-one sales of Modern Warfare 2

Analyst Ben Schachter estimates that Modern Warfare 2, that game you're playing right now, sold seven million copies worldwide in its first day on the market, almost doubling the first-day sales of Grand Theft Auto IV (3.6 million). 1.2 million copies have already been accounted for in the UK -- not coincidentally, also double that region's first-day total for GTA IV. That trend went into Schachter's estimate.

"With GTA IV selling-through 6mm units worldwide in its first week," Schachter said, "that suggests week one of Modern Warfare 2 worldwide sell-through could approximate ~11.7mm. While 2x the week one tally for GTA IV may seem aggressive, the bottom line is that we believe current consensus estimates of around 12mm for the December quarter may end up being conservative."

Here's an eye-opening number for context: Street Fighter II on SNES, which we think of as ubiquitous, sold 6.3 million copies worldwide. Total.