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GameStop Broke the Release Date of Modern Warfare 2

Activision still “fully supports the November 10 street date”

Nov 10, 2009 10:59 GMT  ·  By
This is probably the only way an original game would be available sooner than its pirated version
   This is probably the only way an original game would be available sooner than its pirated version

The fact that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 copies were out on the street before the official November 10 release date is neither a surprise, nor is it news. Just yesterday, we saw the title being pirated and redistributed, with one game snatcher even arrested for the crime. But, to see that Modern Warfare 2 is being sold before its official date by a proper retail outlet, and, more than that, by the biggest game-only retailer in the States, is a bit of a shocker.

During this past weekend, Kotaku was informed that several game distributors in the Northeast and Midwest United States had started selling their copies. GameStop was contacted by GameSpot regarding its decision and it appears this was made on a corporate level. As such, it seems like there's no stop in the game's distribution anywhere to be spotted, and it is legitimately available on the market. Chris Olviera, GameStop's vice president of corporate communications, relayed the company's official stand on the matter.

“This past weekend, GameStop made the decision to sell reserved copies of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in select markets where other retailers had broken street date,” he said. “Our decision followed many conversations with Activision and was an effort to protect our customer base. Today we are focusing on the launch of the title in 4,200 of our US locations and the New York City launch celebration that we are cohosting with Activision [and] Microsoft.” The game's official release in New York might become a bit of an embarrassing moment for Activision if it presents it as “available for the first time,” with GameStop representatives right next to them.

The conversations mentioned by Olviera did not end with a compromise, apparently, and it's a bit unclear how exactly GameStop broke the game's release date so easily. When contacted by GameSpot, an Activision spokesperson said that, “Activision has not given any retailer permission to sell Modern Warfare 2 prior to the Nov. 10 street date. The company fully supports the November 10 street date.” This is a nice way for karma to strike back, as Activision gets a taste of its own medicine. It probably really hates the feeling of asking for something and being ignored, just like the PC fans of its game felt. Anyway, the one thing that is really affected is the game's statistics, as “day-one” sales will drop, since a lot of players have already purchased the product.