EA admits it won't beat Modern Warfare 2 this year
But has hopes for the future.
Battlefield publisher EA has admitted that it won't outsell Activision's FPS behemoth Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 with any of its games this year.
EA is keen to topple Modern Warfare from its position as one of the biggest brands in entertainment.
The publisher has already released Battlefield: Bad Company 2 this year, and will release Afghanistan shooter Medal of Honor in October.
EA's excusive publishing deal with Respawn Entertainment, the studio founded by sacked members of Call of Duty developer Infinity Ward, is seen as another shot at Activision.
But 2010 won't be the year EA shoots down Modern Warfare, EA's VP and UK GM Keith Ramsdale admitted.
“Are we going to beat Modern Warfare sales this year with any single title? No. But do we have a long-term goal of taking more market share or possibly growing the market? Yes.”
Ramsdale described Bad Company 2, which we awarded with a nine out of ten review score, as "great".
“The press reaction has been focused largely on how good the multiplayer is. It’s now recognised as genre defining, and the way the market’s going, that’s key."
What do you think? Can Battlefield topple Modern Warfare? Let us know in the comments section below.
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El-Dev
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El-Dev
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El-Dev@ pblive
pblive@ altaranga
Argh! Too many Acronyms!
pblive@ altaranga
ODST, on the other hand, got bad press. Yes, it was another Halo game and yes people were crying out for it but although many people loved it (me included) AND it had all the multiplayer from Halo 3 the single player wasn't as strong.
I know a lot of us think Multiplayer is equally, if not more important but there are loads of 360 owners still not on live (mad, I know) who buy games for single player and the Modern Warfare games know how to tell a story and make it gripping.
altaranga@ El-Dev
El-Dev@ altaranga
altaranga@ El-Dev
That is why I used the word "arguably". ;)
El-Dev@ altaranga
I would disagree that MW2 was the best FPS of last year.
altaranga@ Karlius
Product offering aside for one moment, it has to be said that Activision absolutely nailed it with MW2 last year. Consider the timing of the product launch, the money they spent on a highly successful sales campaign and the media attention it got from the airport level. It was arguably the best FPS of 2009, and in a year of relatively poor games people were crying out for MW2 come the end of the year. Add to that the glut in spending you get at Christmas... you get the picture.
EA were always going to face an uphill struggle to beat MW2 sales, but what I would say is this. In my opinion their product was superior. BFBC2 gave me a much more satisfying experience than MW2. But here's the thing, I don't own BFBC2. Why not? Because at that crucial time last year I did not have the choice between MW2 or BFBC2, and so I went with what was available and what everyone else was playing. Come March I was still skint from Christmas, and so I couldn't afford to get another FPS (although I dearly wanted to). Plus everyeone was still playing MW2, so for the extra cost was I really gonna gain that much?
If EA want to compare the success of BFBC2 against MW2 on sales figures alone they will always fail. But there are a lot of other factors to consider, a major one of which is the timing of the release. I don't know why they waited until March 2010 (I assume it was due to development rather than chickening out of a head-to-head sales battle with Activision), but if they really want to take on the CoD brand they need to get BFBC3 out as a pre-Xmas release. That way we are likely to see greater competition and a better correlation between games quality and sales figures.
Goofy-Gooberson
I have not met anyone who has tried Battlefield that doesn't prefer it over MW2
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El-Dev@ draytone
By no means though is BBC2 perfect, it's just better than MW2 for me as the online is a lot more enjoyable.
Karlius@ altaranga
pblive