The Gamestop in Virginia Beach on Shore Drive had over 100 people waiting in line for Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. Others in nearby areas reported having close to 400 for the midnight launch.  Modern Warfare 2 the biggest selling game in Gamestop history surpassed Grand Theft Auto IV by 1.1 million copies the first day.

Activision Blizzard reports a total of 4.7 million copies sold the first 24 hours raking in more than $310 million dollars just in the United States and the United Kingdom alone.  A huge success for Activision Blizzard as other game publishers and movie studios look on with enormous envy.  The first Modern Warfare game had sold 6 million copies in its first quarter and the second game in the series is expected to do even better.

Analysts say the game will sell in any “economic environment” especially since game sales overall have been down for 2009.  The original Call of Duty games appealed to the World War II crowd, but since Infinity Ward shifted gears updating the game series to modern times the Call of Duty games have sold through the roof.  Sales of this game are expected to be strong for the rest of the year through the holiday season.

The review scores for Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 have also gone through the roof.  The games best attributes are its graphics and multiplayer component as well as its high energy gameplay.  On the downside game sites have complained the single player campaign is short and the story telling somewhat lacking.  Overall the game wins over its critics with stunning multiplayer combat and Special Ops modes of coop play.