Erik Cota walks out of the video store with his copy of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 video game, early Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009 in Redwood City, Calif. Modern Warfare 2 was launched Tuesdayat one minute after midnight. (AP Photo/George Nikitin)
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Ryan Norwalk had cleared his schedule.
The 26-year-old college student was spending Tuesday gunning down foes in "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," the highly anticipated, first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision Blizzard Inc.
Late Monday night, Norwalk was among the dedicated fans lined up for the game outside the GameStop in West Hollywood, Calif. "I want to get a head start before everyone gets it tomorrow," he said.
Throngs of gamers such as Norwalk waited at over 10,000 retail outlets across the country for the midnight launch of "Modern Warfare 2." In the first week, fans worldwide are expected to spend at least half a billion dollars on the follow-up to 2007's top-selling "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare" about a well-armed Russian baddie named Makarov.
"I'll start playing as soon as I get home," said Frederick Guese, a 24-year-old fan donning black paramilitary gear in line outside the Best Buy in West Los Angeles. "I think the servers will probably go down tonight because everyone will be trying to play multiplayer tonight, so I'll probably start with the single-player campaign before going online."
Many fans were miffed to learn the game was sold at several GameStop locations ahead of Tuesday's launch. A spokesman for the chain said the decision was made to sell reserved copies early after other retailers unleashed the game early. A spokesman for Activision said the publisher had not given any retailer permission to sell the game before Tuesday.
And there were other flaps in the weeks leading up to the game's launch. Footage leaked last month revealed that a skippable level allows players to open fire on innocent civilians as a terrorist in an airport. Earlier this month, Infinity Ward pulled a viral video promoting the game that featured an acronym that is a derogatory term for gays.
"We've been trying to keep the game under wraps for maximum impact for the players," said Infinity Ward CEO Vince Zampella. "It's been stressful with little things leaking here and there. With the unveiling finally here, we don't have to worry about that stuff anymore. Now it's about what's going to screw up that we have to fix over the next week."