Two months after Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 launched to a huge media fanfare, its publisher Activision announced that it had taken more than $1bn in sales.

The sales put the video game in an elite club alongside other entertainment franchises such as James Cameron’s Avatar and Michael Jackson’s Thriller. In fact it beat both to become the most successful entertainment launch of all time, in terms of its first 24 hours on sale.

Its success should have allowed its creators, Infinity Ward (owned by Activision) to reap the rewards and become the leading lights of the world’s video games industry. Until recently Infinity Ward was lead by Jason West and Vince Zampella. Then in March they were suddenly dismissed by Activision for unspecified “breaches of contract and insubordination”. Almost immediately after being sacked the pair launched a $36 million lawsuit against their former employer.

There had been rumours of a rift between Infinity Ward and Activision but the sacking still astonished the games industry.

Be Sociable, Share!

•