The Modern Warfare 2 community has emphatically supported the game’s first DLC pack, and played for an ungodly amount of time already.
Surprise, surprise, the world’s most popular FPS has broken sales records yet again, this time for its first DLC map pack. Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare 2 Stimulus Pack was downloaded by more than one million gamers on the very first day, and passed 2.5 million sales in a week. The Stimulus Pack adds five multiplayer maps to the game and is priced at 1200 Microsoft Points ($15).
Microsoft also announced that Modern Warfare 2 players have logged more than 1.75 billion hours of gameplay worldwide. This number would equate to approximately 200,000 Earth years, and refers to total play of Modern Warfare 2, not just the new map pack. I knew people loved Modern Warfare 2, but these numbers make me a little queasy.
The Xbox 360 is probably the most popular platform for Modern Warfare players, but consider that these hours do not include time played on the PlayStation Network or the PC. The Stimulus Pack was exclusive to Xbox Live on release and still hasn’t been given a firm release date for other platforms. When including playtime on other platforms, the number would probably make me immediately projectile vomit. I don’t want to know how I’d feel if the hours people have spent playing World of Warcraft were also added.
If Jane McGonigal’s theory that online gaming can save the world is to be believed, I think Modern Warfare 2 is leading the charge towards world peace. That is, if we can get these Mew Two gamers interested in things other than annihilating each other over Xbox Live. What if those 200,000 years (and counting) were spent on fixing the world’s ills? We would surely be in a better world, no?
Ah, who cares, I’ve got people to virtually shoot in the face.
