PR was the lead discipline in the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (MW2), with a brief to take the game out of the gaming pages and lead the mainstream news agenda.We were tasked with delivering blanket coverage to make this a 'must have' title for any console owner and ensure it was communicated as the biggest entertainment launch of all time.Our challenge was to prevent MW2 being perceived as 'just another video game'. As such we undertook a world's first - treating its release like the most highly anticipated theatrical movie of 2010 - by hosting a star studded red carpet event in Leicester Square, home of the Hollywood Premier.The event set a precedent for the video games industry, generating an unrivalled amount of coverage and talkability with a PR value of £9m. It also became one of Twitter’s top 10 trending topics for 14 days.MW2 sold 1.23m copies on launch day grossing £47m, overtaking Titanic, Harry Potter and Batman: The Dark Knight to become the biggest entertainment launch of all time.

The first Leicester Square premiere for a video game was the hottest ticket in London that night and attended by 300 VIPs, influencers and consumers and 30 UK and US celebrity fans including Dom Joly, Goldie, Matthew Horne, Jessie Metcalfe and The Black Eyed Peas.

Voice talent Bill Murray, Craig Fairbrass and Hollywood Hero Kevin McKidd were our spokespeople on the night, undertaking media responsibilities.

With no ‘feature presentation’ to showcase, Radio 1's Vernon Kay hosted a 90 minute game-premiere, involving developer interviews, a specially created featurette on the evolution of the Call of Duty and a Celebs vs. Fans multiplayer session on the cinema screen.This was coupled with the midnight opening of HMV Trocadero and a celebrity party, headlined by Dizzee Rascal.An army of 200 'soldiers' patrolled the streets of central London creating theatre for consumers and media, before delivering the first batch of games to HMV.

• Blanket coverage • PR value £9m• 22 national news features• 45 minutes of national news air time (4 live BBC News broadcasts from Leicester Square)• 197 minutes of radio coverageTwitter top 10 trending topic for 14 days. 22 Tweets were from influential celebrities at the premiere.

Activision saw the largest increase in coverage of all technology companies during November with blogging up by 85% from October – all attributed to the launch of MW2 (Apollo Research).Sold 1.23m copies on day-1 grossing £47m and became the biggest selling video game of all time.Overtook Batman: The Dark Knight, previously heralded as the highest money generating launch in history, to officially become the biggest entertainment launch ever!“[MW2] was undoubtedly the biggest entertainment story of year and firmly established videogames as one of the leading forms of entertainment in the UK,” -Michael Rawlinson, Director General (Entertainment.Leisure.Software.Publishers.Association)