Analyst Arvind Bhatia of Sterne Agee expects Modern Warfare 3 to enjoy ”5.5M-6.0M unit sales” its first day in the shops, and reach ”nearly 18M units” this December period.
Retailer HMV have seen ”pretty decent pre-order levels,” but otherwise feel that over the counter sales will be the true driving force for breaking records, particularly now at the early stages of Christmas.
There’s no stopping UK’s GAME from chest beating those pre-order figures: ”Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is the most popular game for pre-orders that Game and Gamestation have ever seen,” said GAME’s Anne-Marie Mason. ”Beating records set by last year’s number one game, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is now Game Group’s largest pre-order title in the company’s history.”
Call of Duty: Black Ops landed itself with the record of being the fastest selling videogame in UK history when it shifted 1.4 million copies day one. Analysts agree that even bigger things are expected from Infinity Ward’s latest.
”We expect MW3 to grow 10% versus last year’s Call of Duty: Black Ops, which has sold through more than 25 million units life-to date. We expect 5.5M-6.0M unit sales of MW3 on day 1 and nearly 18M units in the December quarter,” said Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia. Wedbush Securities’ Michael Pachter echoed a 10% increase over Black Ops.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 releases on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC today. Are you playing it, videogamer?
