The video game industry may begin to pull out of its 2009 slump next week as Activision Blizzard, its largest publisher, launches what is expected to be the biggest game of this, or any year.

Pre-orders for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the latest in the series of “first-person shooter” games, are “higher than for any previous Activision title”, the company said on Thursday in its third-quarter earnings statement.