COD: MW2 UK's best-selling game ever

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 23 August, 2010

Headshots Dr Kawashima's Brain Training.

Activision's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is the UK's best-selling game of all time, stats from GfK ChartTrack reveal.

It overtook Nintendo's DS puzzler Dr Kawashima's Brain Training as the biggest selling UK title ever in terms of units in just 41 weeks.

Infinity Ward's monstrously popular first-person shooter spent only three weeks outside the all-formats top 10.

Dr Kawashima took around 36 months to overtake the previous record holder, Rockstar's PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC hit Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Activision hopes to go one better than Modern Warfare 2 with Treyarch's Call of Duty game, Black Ops, due out this November.

Find out what all the fuss is about over at Eurogamer's Modern Warfare 2 review.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (53) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • darkmorgado #1 2 years ago

    I can't explain how depressing that news is.

  • INSOMANiAC #2 2 years ago

    And yet its not as good as COD4.

  • Bleemo #3 2 years ago

    and they say core style gaming is niche and dying and casual gaming will rule the world, mwahahaha.

  • riceNpea #4 2 years ago

    it's nobody's fault but our own.

    i wish Battlefield had it's sales

  • DreadedWalrus #5 2 years ago

    It's not about how good a game is, it's about the marketing. It's the same with films.

    A game can be great, get great reviews, get great user feedback, and sell almost nothing because of bad/nonexistent marketing. And a game can be rubbish, get rubbish reviews and leave people dissatisfied afterwards, and sell loads because of TV ads and/or being a license.

    Edit: I'm not saying this game is bad per se; just that the quality isn't as important to a game selling well (in most cases) as marketing.
    Edited by 1 at 23/08/10 @ 11:42

  • itsfuzzy #6 2 years ago

    That should read "Teabags Dr Kawashima's Brain Training"

  • richarddavies #7 2 years ago

    I thought the game was alright but it only kept me entertained for a month or so then I moved on. I just don't understand these people who can play it every night. How do they not get bored?

  • darkmorgado #8 2 years ago

    I just wish it had "despite Bobby Kottick being a c*nt" on the end of the headline.

  • ZizouFC #9 2 years ago

    I am one of the many who bought this... I am ashamed, but at the same time the way it was hyped up I couldn't help myself.

    Clearly i wasn't the only one.

  • roquey Verified Lead Quality Assurance Tester and Compliance Specialist, Universally Speaking #10 2 years ago

    @richarddavies because most are these kids that shout noob everytime someone kills them or they kill someone? they all have to converge in one place. why not MW2?

  • itsfuzzy #11 2 years ago


    @ Argentlupine

    Or maybe "Calls Dr Kawashima a Gay Fag"

  • bad09 #12 2 years ago

    Judging from the online component that means A LOT of mums bought MW2 for little Johnny last year. Gay noobs....

  • Jonny5Alive7 #13 2 years ago

    Despite the haters it is a very good game and can be very addictive. I'm no Activision fan but it is good fun and with it being the sequel to COD4 it was always going to sell a bucketload.

    Theres no chance Black Ops is going to top it.

  • ShovelyJoe #14 2 years ago

    It is definitely all about marketing - I have friends who bought the game and never play it just because they 'felt' they had to own a copy. Personally, I f**king love it. Totally addicted to the MP and find everything else MP just not up to scratch - Battlefield was shocking and I hate vehicle combat anyhows. The SP campaign was terribly short and made no sense whatsoever but that isn't why I bought the game. TBH, I wish I didn't love it cos everything about the company behind it and the way they homogenise gaming offends my soul. It's a bit like inappropriately touching little boys - it feels good but you know you shouldn't be doing it ; )
    Edited by 1 at 23/08/10 @ 11:55

  • riceNpea #15 2 years ago

    look, think of COD:MW2 as Jordan.

    like the COD series, when she first came on the scene we were all excited (in a variety of ways) to see her on page 3. so we bought the lads mags to see her knockers. we told our mates and they bought the mags. it was good, clean fun.

    now like MW2 she's become gratuitous, unsympathetic and vacuous and we see here for the odious media whore that she is and are ashamed to have ever knocked one out over her.

    but they both make loads of money. we are a sick nation

  • riceNpea #16 2 years ago

    @Shovelyjoe

    everything you said is wrong.

    everything

  • iHAZaCHEEZ3burger #17 2 years ago

    So thats what the conservatives are talking about when they say "broken Britain"
    Edited by 1 at 23/08/10 @ 12:02

  • MasterNameless #18 2 years ago

    @ShovelyJoe

    It feels good for to inappropriately touch little boys... errrr, okay. You should probably keep that in check, as I don't think everyone else will feel the same.

    Feeling good about MW2 may be a bigger offense though, to be fair. ;)

  • ShovelyJoe #19 2 years ago

    @MasterNameless

    Xbox Live is great for grooming - especially in the MW2 lobbies. All those confused little boys : )
    Edited by 1 at 23/08/10 @ 12:08

  • bigbadbeasty #20 2 years ago

    COD: MW2 falls into a certain category that it would have always done well:

    - It was released on all the key systems at the same time
    - It was a sequel to an already successful franchise with a strong following
    - It was well marketed to both casual and hardcore players
    - It had good reviews (including chav mags such as Nuts)
    - It had bad press in the Daily Mail, because of the airport scene (that is like printing money!)
    - It is has a very grindy compelling game mulitplayer game experience similar to MMO
    - Guns, killing, explotions are always popular
    - Finally it is actually a pretty good game, with a nice single player campaign and multiplayer (neither is just bolted on i.e Bioshock 2 multiplayer)

    There is probably tonnes more, but it does tick a lot of boxes. It is no surprise really :)

  • MasterNameless #21 2 years ago

    Haha, oh dear. /o\

  • riceNpea #22 2 years ago

    i'm a bit worried about ShovelyJoe.

    many a true word said in jest

  • kinky_mong #23 2 years ago

    A game can be great, get great reviews, get great user feedback, and sell almost nothing because of bad/nonexistent marketing. And a game can be rubbish, get rubbish reviews and leave people dissatisfied afterwards, and sell loads because of TV ads and/or being a license.

    For the first example see Okami, for the second see this week's No 1 game.

    As for this news it does make me cringe, mainly because I'm implicit for one of those sells because I felt I might as well buy it for £25 when it was released. It's by no means a bad game but there's so many much better and more deserving games out there.

  • darkmorgado #24 2 years ago

    Finally it is actually a pretty good game, with a nice single player campaign and multiplayer (neither is just bolted on i.e Bioshock 2 multiplayer)

    Yeah because the story seemed really thought out and written didn't it? Not at all like an afterthought bashed out by a trained monkey sellotaping together random pages from Tom Clancy's back catalogue.

  • ShovelyJoe #25 2 years ago

    Relax riceNpea - you're not my type. I am only attracted to people with a sense of humour and massive boobs!!!!

  • wayn3h #26 2 years ago

    I traded my 360 copy in for ACII last week. Best trade in I've ever made.. Though I still feel somewhat dirty having bought a copy on Steam too (as that's what all my friends were playing for aaaaages)...

  • TheTrueSpin #27 2 years ago

    Stop being such snobs.... show me another online console shooter that runs at 60fps and is as polished as MW2. Simple fact is, MW2 is a GREAT online shooter.

  • riceNpea #28 2 years ago

    ShovelyJoe - 'Relax riceNpea - you're not my type. I am only attracted to people with a sense of humour and massive boobs!!!!'


    people?

    good for you that you don't rule out either sex. that must've been a brave admission
    Edited by 1 at 23/08/10 @ 12:21

  • wayn3h #29 2 years ago

    @TheTrueSpin;

    It's not that I think it's a bad game, it's just undeserving of such high sales. Especially when games like Bad Company 2 exist. And it's not exactly the most balanced of competitive games is it? That is one of the most important things in such a game imo.
    Edited by 1 at 23/08/10 @ 12:25

  • onyxbox #30 2 years ago

    I like the Multiplayer but Battlefield Bad Company 2 is a much better team game IMO.

  • darkmorgado #31 2 years ago

    I am only attracted to people with a sense of humour and massive boobs!!!!

    So you knock one off over Ricky Gervais and Homer Simpson?

  • mingster #32 2 years ago

    ShovelyJoe - i'm going to presume you wrote that as a joke but if i see any more of that you will get reported and banned.

  • ShovelyJoe #33 2 years ago

    The only man round here with massive boobs is you you prostate cancer riddled tart

  • beastmaster #34 2 years ago

    Looks as though the decision to release a demo so long after release payed off for them.

  • tobsen #35 2 years ago

    I am so happy that this game exists, because it keeps millions of dumb teenagers away from the Bad Company 2 servers.

  • MasterNameless #36 2 years ago

    "I am so happy that this game exists, because it keeps millions of dumb teenagers away from the Bad Company 2 servers."

    Good point, but on the flip side, if they do play Battlefield, they'll just be terrible, camping snipers, that are easy to spot and kill from the other side of the map. With a shotgun. :D

  • riceNpea #37 2 years ago

    Poor ShovelyJoe...


    you ill adviced comments show that you shouldn't let your mind wonder....it's far too young to go out

  • ShovelyJoe #38 2 years ago

    Jesus - I thought people on this website had a sense of humour

  • riceNpea #39 2 years ago

    tobson and Nameless, spot on

  • Whizzo #40 2 years ago

    I'm no MW2 fan but at least it's an actual game at the top of the list rather than some puzzles overlaid with pseudo-scientific bullshit about it making your brain work better.
    Edited by 1 at 23/08/10 @ 21:25

  • rhinoxious #41 2 years ago

    Co-op was great fun, and the multiplayer was really solid, I did a single non-prestige playthrough over a couple of months after release, and everyone was experimenting and learning the game .. always the best time to play a shooter.

    I don't really understand the level of hate aimed at this game. I mean the publisher has been an arse and yes popularity means there's a lot of idiots online, but is it really worth getting angry about?

  • Ryboy #42 2 years ago

    They'll never beat those figures with Black Ops. I for one wont be buying it.

  • Ryboy #43 2 years ago

    @rhinoxious - I totally agree. I enjoyed COD:MW2 immensely, the online bit anyway.

    COD4 Still beats it hands down though.

  • carlitoswagon #44 2 years ago

    Only improvement over cod4 was host migration. What a game. 3 kill streaks was enough.

  • butler` #45 2 years ago

    auto aim, some sluggish netcode (ever seen a replay of how you died and thought " that's not what happened..."?), overpowered grenade launchers, one-shot melee kills, sitting in a corner with a sniper rifle until you can call in a harrier

    zzz

  • Douche #46 2 years ago

    The word 'ashamed' is mentioned in three posts already.

    Lets all calm down a bit.

  • Ryboy #47 2 years ago

    Personally, I'm ashamed that you're ashamed of me being ashamed that I'm ashamed of these people find this game ashaming. Also, they should be ashamed of being ashamed for producing so many ashaming dollars.

    Ashaming.

    It's lost all meaning.

  • Farzlepot #48 2 years ago

    Shameful.

  • patchbox360 #49 2 years ago

    theres no point comparing, battlefield is slower and more about team play, MW2 is in your face and about quick reflexes

  • darkmorgado #50 2 years ago

    The only thing "in your face" about MW2 are the underage oiks screaming homophobic abuse over the mics.

  • geordiek #51 2 years ago

    Suppose it keeps all the wankers away from battlefield.

  • Bleemo #52 2 years ago

    I suspect that the inflated sales were due to the controversy surrounding the series. The one thing that the two best selling action series (GTA and COD) have in common is controversial news stories. Once you get past those two franchises the numbers dip significantly I guess you have to talk about Halo, Half Life and Gears for the next big series of titles which have barely breached 10 million if at all as opposed to exceeding 20 million.

  • TravisTouchd0wn #53 2 years ago

    Meh. MW2 does an amazing job of bringing the worst out in people - whether that's the endless racist, homophobic rants or a willingness to whore out imbalances in gameplay (double shotguns, I'm looking at you) or glitches (fookin' Javelin).

    Dr.Kawashima never said "Take that, bitch" if I got something wrong o_O