Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- A battle against Russian nationalists may give Activision Blizzard Inc. the biggest entertainment release of the year, said Chief Executive Officer Bobby Kotick.

Sales of Activision’s “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,” to be released on Nov. 10, could surpass the top films of 2009, Kotick said. Some analysts have predicted the game may break the all-time video-game sales record set last year by Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.’s “Grand Theft Auto 4.”

“‘Modern Warfare’ has the potential to be the biggest entertainment launch and not just of a video game,” Kotick said today in an interview.

Total video-game industry revenue is down 13 percent this year through September, according to NPD Group Inc. GameStop Inc., the largest game retailer, said it has more pre-orders for the title than any other release in its history. The year’s top movie worldwide, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” had box office sales of $929 million, according to Box Office Mojo.

Mike Hickey, an analyst with Janco Partners Inc., projects the game to sell 7.8 million copies in its first week, at a retail value of $569 million. “Grand Theft Auto 4” sold 6 million copies for sales of $500 million in its first week, Hickey said. “Modern Warfare 2” may sell a total of 11.1 million units this year, with a retail value of $803 million, Hickey said.

“Activision has done a tremendous job of creating buzz,” Hickey said. “The game has captured the imagination and hearts of gamers across the world.”

Activision, based in Santa Monica, California, rose 19 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $10.87, at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares have gained 26 percent this year.

Award-Winning Composer

The game, which will have a retail price of $59.99, is the follow-up to the first “Modern Warfare” released in November 2007. The soundtrack to the new game was done by Hans Zimmer, the Academy Award-winning composer of films including “Gladiator,” “The Lion King” and “The Dark Knight. The original version of the first-person shooter game sold more than 14 million copies worldwide, according to Activision.

A trailer for the game released in May has been viewed more than 2 million times on Google Inc.’s YouTube.

Activision today reaffirmed its full-year profit will be 63 cents a share, excluding certain items, on sales of $4.5 billion. That compares with the 65-cent estimate of 26 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

The company reported third-quarter net income of $15 million, or 1 cent a share, on sales of ‘‘Guitar Hero’’ and ‘‘World of Warcraft.’’ That compares with a loss of $108 million, or 8 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding certain items, profit was 4 cents a share, matching the average estimate of 25 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

DJ Hero

Even with the high expectations for ‘‘Modern Warfare 2’’ and Activision’s other top release, ‘‘DJ Hero,’’ Kotick said high unemployment is crimping consumer spending. The company has boosted advertising and aired commercials during Major League Baseball’s World Series, he said.

‘‘We’re really going to amplify the marketing with the expectation that the consumer will materialize when it comes to holiday shopping,” Kotick said.

“Modern Warfare” may help offset disappointing sales of music games, Doug Creutz, an analyst with Cowen & Co., said in an Oct. 26 research note. “Guitar Hero 5” is on pace to sell 1.5 million units in its first year, fewer than the 4.7 million for “Guitar Hero World Tour,” Creutz said.

Kotick also expects games being created for Facebook Inc. to be a “great area of growth” over the next three to five years. He said “it will play an important role in the future of gaming.”

Developing games for social networks requires different skills compared with building for Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3, Microsoft Corp. Xbox 360 or Nintendo Co.’s Wii, Kotick said. The top makers of social-games include Zynga Inc., Playfish Inc. and Playdom Inc.

“Our preference is always to grow organically where possible, but I think some of the development skills are different and some of the marketing skills are different from some of our core games,” Kotick said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Adam Satariano in San Francisco at asatariano1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 5, 2009 16:48 EST