Video games: Black Ops beats Modern Warfare 2 in pre-order sales

The new Call of Duty game from Activision set to release later this year just out performed the top selling pre-ordered game of 2009 in pre-release sales.

Last fall Call of Duty Modern Warfare had set records for the amount of pre-orders, making it the top game to ever be sold before hitting shelves. According to Evan Wilson, a Pacific Crest Securities analyst, Call of Duty Black Ops (the next game in the popular franchise) has just surpassed its predecessor in pre-order sales with a 5 month gap between today and its release. A further statement from Wilson, though, claims that although Black Ops may hold more numbers in pre-orders, Black Ops will have a hard time reaching the actual amount of units Modern Warfare had sold in 2009, a large sum of 16 million copies. Due to “competition, weaker marketing, and the Infinity Ward situation,” Wilson believes that Black Ops will under perform the previous franchise's release by 4 million. This estimate has Black Ops only selling 12 million copies by the end of 2010 (one month after the games release). If Evan Wilson's statement holds any truth, this will be the first time within the eight-game franchise that a Call of Duty game has not outsold its predecessor in sales.