When extensive details on Modern Warfare 3 were leaked by Vox Games' Brian Crecente last May, an unprepared Activison was thrown into a panic. In an interview with Ad Age at CES last week, CEO Eric Hirshberg detailed the company's reaction on hearing the news, and how it adapted its PR strategy to take control of the situation. Instead of taking the traditional big-business "no comment" route, Hirshberg took advantage of the hype generated by the leak.

Activision confirmed the leaked article's accuracy and kicked off its marketing campaign early by launching the first teaser trailers, originally intended for TV, the next day via Facebook and Twitter. It was in this switch to social networking as the central tool of promotion, enforced by circumstances, that Activision found unexpected success. Modern Warfare 3 went on to become the fastest selling game of all time, proving that it pays to be adaptive in an age of rumors and leaks. A video excerpt from the interview can be found in the source link below.