New research from Nielsen has found that Activision’s move to retain the Call Of Duty branding for November’s series release, Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, has increased consumer awareness of the title and purchase interest.

While the game was originally introduced with the Call Of Duty moniker intact, it was then referred to for some time simply as Modern Warfare 2, before Activision decided to once again include the Call of Duty prefix in the title’s name.

The latest information from Nielsen’s videogame tracking service shows that the title “benefits substantially from association with its multi-platinum parent franchise Call Of Duty.”

Nielsen compared consumer response to the game a week before and a week after the name change. “Aided awareness” of the title was up 94 per cent post name change, while “definite interest in purchasing” rose by 64 per cent and “total positive interest in purchasing” by 65 per cent.

Activision is bullish about the prospects of the game, which it expects to “dominate this holiday season.”