Green and red may be the traditional Christmas colors, but this year's dominant shade could be black. Pacific Crest Securities analyst Evan Wilson today boosted his Call of Duty: Black Ops sales estimate for the holiday quarter to 12 million copies, up from his previous projection of 10 million.

　　Black Ops, white getup. Citing his firm's retail contacts, Wilson said the preorders for the Treyarch-developed Black Ops are outpacing those of last year's megahit Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The sentiment echoed comments from Activision CEO Robert Kotick made at a pre-Electronic Entertainment Expo analysts' meeting last month.

　　But where Kotick stressed that each entry in the Call of Duty series had outperformed its predecessor, Wilson believes Black Ops will break that trend. Wilson estimated that Modern Warfare 2 sold 16 million copies in the holiday quarter of 2009 and called that number unachievable for Black Ops, "due to competition, weaker marketing, and the Infinity Ward situation."

　　Infinity Ward, the studio that created the Call of Duty series and developed Modern Warfare 2, has been a center of turmoil within Activision this year. The problems surfaced with the March firings of cofounders Jason West and Vince Zampella. After their dismissal, the pair sued the company, which sued back, alleging they had been plotting to start a new studio with chief Activision rival Electronic Arts. Within weeks, West and Zampella did just that. A number of Infinity Ward developers jumped ship to join the new studio, dubbed Respawn Entertainment, while others simply resigned.

　　Set for release November 9, Black Ops will depict a number of Cold War-era covert operations in countries like Russia, Vietnam, and Cuba. The game represents new territory for the series, which has previously focused on more familiar World War II and modern-day settings.

　　You need a javascript enabled browser to watch videos.

　　Click To Unmute

　　Call of Duty: Black Ops E3 2010 Interview: Josh Olin

　　Tears Of The Kingdom Is A Technological Marvel

　　Resident Evil 4 Is A Perfect RemakeHow Alan Wake II Made Me Face My Fear of Horror GamesGameSpot's Top 10 Games of 2023Thompson: The Pop Culture Icon’s Strange Legacy - LoadoutFirearms Expert’s FAVORITE Weapons Of 2023State Of Gaming Handhelds In 2023Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Ichiban Kasuga Character Spotlight TrailerHow Lies of P Cracked the Souls GenreLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Chitose Fujinomiya Character Spotlight TrailerLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Eric Tomizawa Character Spotlight TrailerLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Kazuma Kiryu Character Spotlight Trailer

　　Share

　　LinkEmbed

　　Size:640 × 360480 × 270

　　Start at: End at: Autoplay Loop

　　Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?

　　Sign up or Sign in now!

　　Please use a html5 video capable browser to watch videos.

　　This video has an invalid file format.

　　00:00:00

　　HTML5

　　Auto HD High Low

　　Report a problem

　　Sorry, but you can't access this content!

Please enter your date of birth to view this video

　　By clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's

　　Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

　　enter