Activision praises retail and promises fair play on MW2

Activision’s UK MD Andrew Brown has contacted MCV to show his confidence and trust in retail as stores all over the country prepare to start selling Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 from Tuesday.

Any cases of early selling are being quickly and firmly dealt with by retail head offices and are accidental, insists Brown.

But he admits he cannot control the early shipping of copies by an online retailer like Zavvi when Activision has not supplied stock directly.

Above all, Activision is delighted so far with the way retail has approached such a huge release.

The scale of the launch is enormous, with some trade sources suggesting that over 1.8 million units are being initially shipped in the UK alone.

We know how closely all of retail reads MCV, from senior buyers to store managers at the big chains and solus indie stores. So given that the release of Modern Warfare 2 is only days away now, it is really important that we get across our message of trust and belief in them,” Brown explained.

I have to say that retail is showing a sophisticated approach to ensuring that all UK consumers get to purchase the game at the same time.”

Brown insists that Activision is working closely with High Street and online retail to ensure as orderly a marketplace as possible. But, as other publishers have experienced with major releases in the past, there will always be some variables at play.

Certain things on a massive release like this are out of our control,” Brown continued. A member of in-store staff within a chain can make a genuine mistake, for example, and there will be some copies coming into the UK that are not supplied by us directly or by our distribution partner Centresoft.

But we remain absolutely confident that all supermarkets, specialist chains and independents are doing everything they can to hold the line.

All of the retailers in the UK supplied by us or Centresoft are passionately committed to making sure that the release of Modern Warfare 2 is a very special event. There will be more midnight openings than there have been for any other game in the history of gaming in the UK.

We want all the readers of MCV to know that we are doing our best and we are being fair. Many different retailers have invested significant resources into their promotions. We are delighted with that and supporting retail wherever we can.

We cannot control everything and there are some things we are simply not allowed to control, but I can assure retail and consumers alike that we are doing all we can to give everyone a fair crack of the whip.”

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 arrives across all stores in the UK from Tuesday November 10th on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.