It's always interesting to plot the trajectory of a game, from pre-release hype to post-release reality. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare got an awful lot of positive attention when it was first announced, though the subsequent demo left a lot of people wondering what all the fuss was about. This wasn't helped by early reports that the game's single-player campaign only lasted 6 or so hours. Turned out, though, that the campaign was a tremendously exciting experience and the multiplayer way more fun than anybody expected. The end result? CoD4: Modern Warfare has sold more than seven million copies (across all platforms) and, according to sales tracking organsiations The NPD Group, Chart Track and The GFK Group, the top selling game of 2007. Not bad for a year that wasn't exactly thin on top-notch releases.

Activision are understandably chuffed by all this and, once you add in the hyperactive money-geyser known as Guitar Hero, are going to have to find a spare shoebox or two for all the cash. Failing that, maybe they could just scrunch up lots of thousand dollar notes into balls and pelt them at brand new house-chums Blizzard, who aren't exactly hard up at the moment either. The music and movie industries could act as ballboys.