In the minds of many, MW2 will become the biggest game of all time when it launches this Tuesday

But what’s the reality? With retailers under pressure from postal strikes, price increases and a ridiculous level of demand, we spoke to two of the UK’s major retailers to find out how they plan to meet expectations…

Much was made about the game’s price after Activision revealed earlier in the year that it had controversially increased Modern Warfare 2’s SRP to £54.99 in the UK, but this doesn’t seem to have had an adverse affect on the game’s sales potential. “We’re tracking very high on the pre-orders so it doesn’t look like that’s had an impact,” Adam Ryan, marketing manager for games at Play.com told us. “If it has, then who knows what they would have been otherwise. It was interesting reading Activision’s take on the strategy – the idea of value. The customer still wants to buy the game at that price, so it suggests it's still good value for the customer and they want to make the purchase regardless.“

High-street chain HMV concurred. Spokesman Gennaro Castaldo told us: “The publishers of Modern Warfare have obviously invested massively in this title to create what will go on to become an iconic game and, most likely, the biggest-ever seller to date. I think fans will understand this, and that their desire to own a copy will remain undiminished.”
Yep, you read that right. Likely the biggest-ever seller to date.

Will the game achieve its billing as ‘the biggest game of all time’? “It’s certainly looking like being one of the biggest, if not the biggest,” confirmed Ryan. “We’re very pre-order driven at Play. The beauty of being online is that we can literally track all pre-order numbers. It’s looking like the biggest, certainly on day one. In terms of the total number of pre-orders we have received, it will be the biggest we’ve ever had.”

With Activision’s pricing experiment an apparent success, could we start to see a trend whereby all publishers start to charge more for their premium, triple-A titles? Although we’d argue that the brand and quality of the game have a large part to play in gamers’ willingness to part with their cash, it certainly seems likely assuming MW2 is a runaway success.

“It’s hard to say. I’ve had conversations with suppliers, but it’s been fairly quiet from their point of view,” Ryan explained. “They’re not saying that they are going to be doing it, or that they’re not. We’ll have to wait and see. It doesn’t really affect us as long as the orders are still coming in and we’re still selling them – it’s not as if we‘re making more or less money as a result of their increase in price.”

And could we start to expect one big title to dominate the run-up to the holiday period on an annual basis? “That's possible, I guess, though a little too early to say,” said HMV’s spokesman. “It depends on publishers' long-term development plans. Also, sometimes releases are tied in to bigger film franchises that can influence release dates. I suspect retailers would generally welcome a number of key titles being realised around the same period so as to really excite gamers and get real momentum into the market place.”

Even more controversy has boiled up around Infinity Ward’s decision to make changes to the PC version of the game – gone are dedicated servers, and now we hear that the maximum number of players in multiplayer has been capped to match the console version. Disgruntled PC gamers were threatening to boycott Modern Warfare 2 – despite being the cheapest available version of the game.

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Modern Warfare 2: How will you buy yours?

- Play.com are guaranteeing that customers will receive the game on launch day if they order before midnight on Sunday. The game costs £45 on consoles, and the postal service won’t be an issue because they use their own delivery suppliers. “Everyone will be getting it day one no worries,” the company assured us.

- HMV are offering the following ways to buy the game:
“We're heavily involved in its promotion, with over 125 of our stores opening at midnight to support its launch. Plus we have a great-value pre-play offer on HMV Re/Play where you can buy Modern Warfare 2 for just £9.99 on Xbox 360 or PS3 when you trade in Forza 3 and Tekken 6 on Xbox 360 or Tekken 6 or Uncharted 2 on PS3.” Contrary to recent email alerts, no copies will be sent out early.

- Gamestation is offering Modern Warfare 2 on consoles for £4.99 – if you trade in two titles from the list below before 19 November. At the manager’s discretion.

Xbox 360: Overlord II, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, COD 4, Wet, Borderlands, SmackDown Vs Raw 2010, ODST, DiRT 2, PES 2010, Sacred 2, Star Wars: Clone Wars, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2
PS3: Overlord II, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, COD 4, Wet, Borderlands, SmackDown Vs Raw 2010, Ratchet & Clank, DiRT 2, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, PES 2010, Sacred 2, inFamous

- Game has the standard edition of the game (£44.99 online) as well as numerous other versions and accessories. Check out the full list here. Express delivery costs £2.95, or you can get free next-day delivery on orders over £75. You can also get the game for half price when you trade in one of the following titles:

Xbox 360 & PS3: Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Brütal Legend, FIFA 10, WWE Smackdown Vs RAW 2010, The Beatles: Rock Band, Borderlands, Tekken 6, Need For Speed: Shift, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, SingStar: Take That, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, GTA: Episodes From Liberty City, Forza 3

- Toys R Us is charging £39.99 for the standard edition of the game on consoles, with a limit of four items per online order.