IT is tipped to be the biggest-earning video game of all time.

With more than five million copies set to be sold by the end of today, and eight million in the next week, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will become a feature of many homes in the south.

Last night eager gamers queued outside stores to be among the first in the world to get their hands on the title.

Bloody and brutally realistic, the 18-rated game comes with a “disturbing content” warning and is likely to provoke concern about graphic violence.

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It is also likely to translate into a massive payday for Hampshire-based high street video game retailer Game.

Neil Ashurst, head of UK public relations for Game, said: “We’ve taken record pre-orders for Modern Warfare 2, and it looks like it’ll become one of history’s iconic games. Excitement among our customers is unprecedented.

“The launch of a major video game is a huge global event on the scale of Harry Potter books or Lord of the Rings films, and everyone at Game has been planning for months to make sure we have everything our customers need. Simply buying the game is not enough for many enthusiasts, and we have seen massive demand for the additional products, from exclusive branded consoles to the figurines of the lead character.”

No less than five stores in Southampton were due to open at midnight last night – Game branches in the Bargate Centre, WestQuay and East Street as well as a Gamestation in Above Bar and HMV in the city centre.

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Game and Gamestation branches in Winchester, Fareham and Andover were also preparing to welcome midnight shoppers, as were other stores.

Industry experts are predicting that Modern Warfare 2 will easily beat the records set last year by Grand Theft Auto IV.

Players take part in a series of first-person challenges which put them in the place of soldiers. The game has caused outrage after it was revealed that players could plot terror attacks against civilians. It includes a situation where the gamer must decide whether to kill unarmed civilians at a Russian airport to infiltrate a terrorist group.

The scenes have been deemed so shocking that the makers have issued warnings and included “checkpoints” in the game, giving players an option to skip some episodes.