Call of Duty: Black Ops Might Sell More than 10 Million Copies

It's clear that no Infinity Ward made Call of Duty title will arrive this year and it's very likely that publisher Activision might retire the name Modern Warfare altogether.

Now, the burden of carrying the franchise forward has fallen on the shoulders of developer Treyarch, which has largely played second fiddle to Infinity Ward. And at least one analyst thinks that the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops might be getting close in terms of success when compared to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Doug Creutz, who is analyst of the videogame industry working for Cowen and Company, stated, “This is a very impressive display of strength,” when talking about the fact that Black Ops managed to enter the top ten bestseller list for both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 although there are more than six months to go before the official launch date.

He added that Black Ops might sell about 10.7 million units in the first year on sales, which represents a fall of about 17 percent when compared to Modern Warfare 2, a better situation than the originally thought drop of close to 30%. Creutz also revealed that “A strong performance by the Treyarch-developed Black Ops would help combat the notion that the departure of key Infinity Ward talent could permanently impair the Call of Duty franchise.”

Call of Duty: Black Ops will be up against the newly resurrected Medal of Honor from Electronic Arts, another contender for the first person shooter crowd, while Modern Warfare 2 virtually launched without significant recognition in its genre. There's also a perception amongst fans of the series that the titles put out by Treyarch somewhat lack in quantity when compared with the games put out by Infinity Ward. Expect to see more glimpses of Call of Duty: Black Ops at the Activision E3 presentation.