Consumer pre-orders for Activision's next game in the Call of Duty series are out-pacing those for last year's Modern Warfare 2 installment.

And according to Pacific Crest Securities' Evan Wilson, Call of Duty: Black Ops is on track to sell around 12 million units during the Christmas quarter, compared to 16 million sales of Modern Warfare 2 for the same period last year, reports Gamespot.

Back in May, Doug Creutz of Cowan & Company estimated that the game will sell over 10 million units following its release on November 9.

Although a multiformat title, Microsoft announced at E3 this year that Xbox 360 owners will get access to the additional downloadable content for the game before PlayStation 3 users, in the start of a three year deal.

Microsoft has announced a deal that will see the Xbox 360 platform receive Call of Duty game add-ons first for the next three years.

While the financial terms of the deal weren't released, it mirrors the kind of agreement that saw Grand Theft Auto IV downloadable content released exclusively for the Xbox 360 for a rumoured $50 million in 2008.

The news, released during this year's Microsoft press briefing at E3, is the start of - according to Don Mattrick - a "year of transformation" for the console.

"If you love games, Xbox is the only place for you and your friends to play all three of the biggest blockbusters in our industry - Halo, Gears of War and Call of Duty."

The deal will start with the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops, slated for a November 9 launch date - although the nature of the add-on content is not yet known.