Call of Duty: Black Ops still outpacing Modern Warfare 2 on pre-orders

By Ryan Fleming October 7, 2010

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Modern Warfare 2 was a behemoth of a video game. With over a billion dollars in sales within three months, a record shattering number of games sold on the opening day and even more sales records for the expansions that came out months later, it set the bar so high in terms of money generated that it is hard to imagine that its predecessor might actually surpass it. But according to GameInformer.com, which is part of retailer GameStop’s network, Black Ops is on track to do just that.

Back in July, we heard the same thing, but there was a difference. At the time, it was not all that surprising to hear that the hardcore fans who are passionate about the Modern Warfare games — and by extension the Call of Duty games — were anxiously awaiting a new version. After all, for as impressive a game as Modern Warfare 2 is, there were not all that many differences between it and the original Modern Warfare. With Black Ops it looks like Treyarch took everything that worked in Modern Warfare 2, bringing back the same gameplay mechanics including the types of weapons, and put it in a new time period (that was thankfully not World War II), and which essentially just made the game fresh again.

Even if you are not a fan of the series, it is good news for the industry as a whole, after months of disappointing software sales.

“GameStop is tracking to all-time, record reservations on Call of Duty: Black Ops,” Bob McKenzie, senior vice president of merchandising for GameStop said in a press release. “We are ahead of where we were with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 last year, which previously set the industry standard.”

The fact that the pre-orders continue to come in for Black Ops is significant. The fact that it is outpacing one of the best selling games of all-time and doing it mere weeks after the monster release of Halo: Reach is impressive to say the least. So much for all the threats to boycott Call of Duty following the Infinity Ward drama.

Call of Duty: Black Ops releases on November 9.

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Ryan Fleming is the Gaming and Cinema Editor for Digital Trends. He joined the DT staff in 2009 after spending time covering…

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