Activision, which yesterday became the newly-crowned leading global games publisher follwoing its merger with Vivendi, has stated that it is brimming with confidence going into the annual battle for the Christmas number one – with Call of Duty 4 spearheading its efforts.

The fourth iteration of the high profile FPS franchise is still riding high in the charts – and Activision plans to maintain its momentum with a major marketing campaign designed to concrete Activision’s status as a leading publisher.

“This Christms is going to be  competitive for all publishers, but we are well positioned with our winter line-up to take advantage of a buoyant games market and reinforce Activision’s position as one of the leading games publishers worldwide,” said UK and Ireland marketing director David Tyler.

“Many of our titles already have proven track records of success as franchises. Allied with the strength of our sales and marketing programmes, this gives us enormous credibility when we are seeking support from retail.”

And when asked if he feels the publisher has a rival for Christmas number one, he added: “Call of Duty 4, Call of Duty 4, Call of Duty 4...”