Not even raging controversies can stop the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 behemoth – GameStop has reported that the title has the most preorders of any game in its history.
Now, it’s safe to say that Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare 2 is an extremely controversial game, and it hasn’t even come out yet. Nevertheless, controversy appears to do nothing to stem the flood of gamers eager to answer the Call of Duty.
Tony Bartel, Gamestop’s executive vice president for merchandising and marketing told USA Today’s Game Hunters that demand for the title was a literal peak for the specialty retailer: “By all indicators, we anticipate Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will be the biggest entertainment launch of all time … As of today, the number of pre-order reservations we’ve taken for the game is the highest for any title we’ve ever sold in our 6,200 store network.”
Or, as Kanye West might have put it if he were a GameStop spokesperson delivering an incredibly overused joke: “Look, Halo 3 and Wrath of the Lich King, we’re really happy for you and Imma let you finish, but Modern Warfare 2 has the most pre-orders of all time. Of all time!“
GameStop isn’t the only retailer that is planning midnight launch events, either – over 2,600 Wal-Marts across North America will be selling copies of the game at 12:01 am on November 10th, with the first 20 customers getting special editions personally autographed by the Infinity Ward development team (which is 52,000 signatures in total, if I’m reading that right).
Meanwhile, Amazon.com has been searching for the “The Call of Duty-est Town in America” judging on the number of pre-orders. At the moment, the top spot is held by – dramatic pause – Grand Forks, North Dakota. Okay, didn’t actually see that one coming. Go figure.
With all of this, it’s no wonder that MW2 is expected to be the juggernaut of the holiday season – and arguably the biggest reason why every other game is now coming out in Spring 2010 instead.
(via Joystiq)
