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Thousands of UK gamers queued into the night for the launch of what may be the world’s most anticipated video game.

Video game retailers opened at midnight to sell the first copies of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, a game which is widely expected to shatter sales records.

The latest instalment in the Call of Duty franchise was officially launched in the UK at a cinema in Leicester Square in the heart of London’s West End, a site usually reserved for the premiere of Hollywood blockbusters.

Actors dressed as soldiers patrolled the square while British celebrities joined gamers to take part in multiplayer sessions of the game.

The game, which is tipped to sell more than a million copies in the UK in its first week of release, features astonishing graphics and exciting gameplay as the player takes on a group of ultra-nationalist Russian terrorists.

Predictably, the game has provoked a certain amount of criticism as it is extremely violent and features a controversial scene in which civilians are killed at an airport.

One British MP has attacked the game in the press, describing his "absolute shock" at the violence portrayed in the game.

However, another MP has defended the game by setting up a group on a social-networking website which describes itself as "unashamedly pro-video games" and which aims to "discuss how UK video gamers can find their voice in newspapers and government".

More cynical observers have said that the game’s developers deliberately included the scene in which civilians are massacred in order to stir up controversy, knowing that this will generate a huge amount of free publicity.

Whatever people’s views on violence in computer games, the game is flying off the shelves around the UK and is expected to generate $400m (2,700m yuan) globally for its publishers.