If proof that the selling of content via Live is worthwhile were needed, have revealed that so far a cool one-million USD worth of downloads have so far been delivered for 2. Activision big cheese revealed the princely sum to investors a couple of days ago, claiming the success of the downloadable content as "a critical first step in exploiting revenue potential and extending the shelf life of our games".

So far, the publisher has released two extra content packs for Call of Duty 2, one costing 5 USD, the other 10 USD. The cheaper pack apparently shifted 105,000 copies - a very healthy number for a downloadable extra on a newly released console - 66,000 copies of the pricier pack also left the virtual shelves. Chatter online has it that this is the first downloadable content over Live to account for over one-million in sales, which bodes well for other such 'premium' content, even if the reception to paid-for game enhancements has been mixed.

Titles such as The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion have also made use of a 'premium content' approach to keeping the game fresh post-launch (and lining the publisher's pockets, the cynics might suggest), as has Project Gotham 3. Indeed, if Acti's results are indicative, we'll no doubt be seeing more news like this in the future.

By Luke Guttridge