Yesterday, the world got another proof of the popularity of Activision's videogame Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, when Capcom, the firm's Japanese arch-rival, postponed the launch of many of its own titles to avoid direct competition with the game which has been pegged the year's top ranked release. The development has further fueled large profits warnings.

Modern Warfare 2 was released only last month and has seen one of the most successful launches ever. In merely the first 5 days of release, the game pulled in sales worth a whopping $550 Million, as has been confirmed by official figures released by Activision, thereby taking up all the funds that the gamers had probably stashed away for spending on other new titles.

Profit warnings shared by Capcom have managed to bring out both the "hit-driven nature of the video-game industry and the knock-on effects of a big launch". Many other video-game makers have now taken the same step. Releases of much awaited games like Bioshock 2 from Take-Two Interactive and Splinter Cell: Conviction from Ubisoft have also been pushed back until after Christmas, and into the coming year, to avoid competition with Activision's title.

"Capcom believes that delaying the launches of its own titles will avoid competing with these new games, maximize the sales volume of the new Capcom games, and preserve the value of the brands associated with these games", the company said.