The video game industry has suffered significant losses though the course of 2009.  Video game hardware and software have seen a fall in sales from the time when the previous year’s economic downturn.  Since last month, there has been a significant decline in the sale of video games.  For the current and following month, however, forecast says video game sales is about to recover thanks to some fantastic titles.

The NPD Group, a marketing research organization says that the overall sale of video game hardware for last month fell down to 23% and video game titles sales went down 18%.  Price cuts for the PS3 and XBOX-360 helped a bit, but not enough to boost the total video game hardware sales.  An estimated forecast states that a total of $20bn to $21bn will be generated this year compared to last year’s $21.3bn.

The slump in sales have caused numerous job-losses and have been felt by employees from several video game developers and dealers such as Electronic Arts and Gamestop.   Video game retailer Gamestop said they are looking forward to a decline in sales of up to 11% and has also been detached from Goldman Sachs’ conviction buy list and EA announced it will have to let go 1,500 of their employees but did not say as to when.

Total sales for the PS3, XBOX360, and WII have been fairly up and down due to competitive price cuts and exclusivity of highly anticipated game titles.  The PS3 has reported a growth in sales in Japan and Europe due to the $100 price cut Sony had issued and they are optimistic on next year’s sale with the release of God of War III.  On the downside, their PSPGo has not seen any significant boost in sales since its release last October 2009 in the US.

More optimism has surfaced as  Activision launched their highly anticipated “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,” sequel to the successful “Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.” Several titles from other developers and publishers are also projected to boost title sales for the month of November with Ubisoft’s “Assassin’s Creed 2” and Wii’s “New Super Mario Bros.”

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has given Activision its breakthrough sales for this year with gross income amounting to $310 million in North America and the UK alone.  According to the company, Sources from Activision said that they sold about 4.7 million copies for within only 24 hours after its first release date. 

Call of Duty MW2 is expected to overtake the success of Grand Theft Auto IV by Take Two Interactive where it sold 3.6 million copies around the world, much less than the number of CoD:MW2 copies sold in only two countries.  Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 costs $60 or £36.55.

The game puts players in real-life warfare of today’s modern time and players can pick to play in single player or multiplayer mode online.  It is available on three platforms; XBOX 360, Playstation 3, and PC.

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