COD: Modern Warfare 2 Just Begging To Be Pirated

The Call of Duty series has enjoyed huge success and masses of sales in recent years. It certainly hasn’t been damaged too much by piracy – Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare was 2007′s biggest selling game, shifting 2 million units in its first month and 9 million by April 2008 and 10 million to date. Even the downloadable COD4 Variety Map Pack broke Xbox 360 downloadable content records by reaching 1 million downloads in just over a week from launch.

So, how is publisher Activision responding to this unbelievable success? By pitching the soon to be released Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 2 in the UK at a pocket-busting £54.99 ($92.00)

Adding insult to injury, Activision’s CEO Bobby Kotick admitted that if he could get away with it he would charge even more.

Of course, games these days cost a huge amount to produce, but raising prices for the sake of it – and making arrogant comments – grates on the nerves and patience of fans.

It didn’t take long for some annoyed (ex)customers to retaliate by setting up what is being described by some as a pointless petition.

But others see effectiveness in a more direct protest. Don’t hand over the extra cash to Activision. In fact, don’t hand over any money at all and pirate the game instead.

Rightly or wrongly, some people will now choose this route either through lack of funds or lack of patience with what they perceive as a greedy publisher. And when they’ve done it once, it will be very difficult to get them back.