Rumor: EA Planning Shooter Showdown for Battlefield 3

[Andy Chalk]

Rumor: EA Planning Shooter Showdown for Battlefield 3

Retailers in the U.K. claim that Electronic Arts will force a shooter showdown with Activision by releasing Battlefield 3 [http://www.amazon.com/Battlefield-3-Limited-Pc/dp/B002I0HJZO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1305236195&sr=8-3] as close as possible to Modern Warfare 3.

It's no secret that EA is tired of playing a distant second fiddle to Activision in the combat shooter arena. It took a shot at the title with last year's battle of the titans [http://www.amazon.com/Medal-Honor-Xbox-360/dp/B000TI836G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1305236569&sr=8-1]" between BF3 and MW3 and while his comments had a certain ring of bravado to them, it's starting to look like he wasn't kidding around.

Battlefield 3 doesn't have a release date and Modern Warfare 3 hasn't even been announced yet but retailers in the U.K. told MCV [http://www.mcvuk.com/news/44281/Release-date-showdown-for-Battlefield-and-COD] that EA plans to launch its shooter right on top of Activision's. The site speculates that Battlefield 3 is more likely to come out a few days ahead of Modern Warfare 3, but a same-day release is also a possibility. "EA hasn't been shy with Battlefield 3. It's well known it will tackle CoD head-on," one source said. "We're ready for them to arrive within days of each other."

Buyers for retailers told the site that the next Modern Warfare is expected to have a release target of the second week of November, a date that will be officially confirmed by May 23. Regardless of when Battlefield 3 arrives, EA has said that it will be its biggest launch ever, with an "enormous commitment of resources" put into promoting it. It looks to me like the 2011 holiday just got a whole lot more interesting.


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[Veloxe]

Good because the fanboys didn't have enough to argue about. Let the BF3 vs MW3 happy slaps competition commence!

 

[gigastar]

Ok, now that will be something to whip out the popcorn for.

If only the two games held any potential with me at all...

 

[Korten12]

Is it just me or are they talking less really about the game, and more about how they hope it will beat COD?

Honestly its starting to get annoying. Battlefield and COD, while both shooters, imo give different experiences.

 

[WiMoTj]

Is it just me that thinks that this is a bad idea?

I mean, I'm sure Battlefield 3 will be awesome and everything, but Call of Duty has an extreme fanbase and they sell ridicoulusly many copies of each game.

 

[Wolfram23]

I get the feeling MW3 will outsell due to the rabid fanbase... but I think BF3 will do very well regardless and will be my FPS of choice.

 

[Compatriot Block]

Quality won't be the biggest factor here. Brand loyalty for Call of Duty, I'd say, is gonna end up the deciding factor. I feel I should clarify that I make no connections between this and which is a better game.

 

[fix-the-spade]

Well, erm, this is a good plan for a PR disaster.

We've already seen that no matter who develops it, how buggy it is or how nonsensical the plot is Call of Duty is going to put a brick through the sales records come release day. Activision's managed to hit a Kanye West level of ingraining in pop culture and it doesn't matter if the release is the college dropout or 808's and heartbreaks, people are still going to buy it and buy a ton of it.

This just seems to be setting up EA and Dice for a fall and Escapist for a bunch of 'Call of Duty stomps the competition... again' headlines. Besides, we still don't know if Battlefield 3 is going to be any good yet (or a heavily watered down CoD clone).

 

[Ranooth]

Skyrim, Battlefield and CoD in the same month.

November 2011 is going to be awesome!

 

[Phlakes]

Okay. Stop it.

Don't try to make a better shooter than CoD, just make a damn good Battlefield.

 

[josemlopes]

This is retarded, no one wins, not even the costumer, basicly we will have to wait for both games "just because" and then we will have to choose wich one to buy. With this people will only get BF3 or COD, if they didnt chose to do this the same guys that would get BF3 would get it and the guys that were waiting for COD could also get it because of not having anything else to play.

 

[Vault boy Eddie]

I consider the Battlefield series a less difficult and more user friendly and not so sim like ARMA 2. And since that is the type of game i'm into i'll be getting Battlefield 3. I'll try MW3 at a friend's house, but i'm not getting it for myself, knowing that $15 maps will be coming out as sure as the sun sets.

And them saying it's to compete with activision is malarkey. Holiday season means more people will get it as a gift, it's a business move, nothing more. Holidays=more sales.

 

[Irridium]

EA, your going to lose. The quality of the game might be better, but Call of Duty will destroy it in terms of sales.

The past two Call of Duty titles topped $1 billion by the end of the years they were released, with Black Ops beating MW2 in terms of sales(CoD sales have been increasing year-over-year, and show no signs of slowing down).

EA, your just setting yourselves up just to get slammed into the ground.

 

[Spud of Doom]

Well I'm planning to pick up BF3 over CoD anyway, but I doubt they'll even make 50% of CoD's sales. Best case scenario: some CoD fans who haven't taken a look at battlefield will be interested. Worst case scenario: entire CoD fanbase becomes convinced that BF3 is a "newcomer" and a "CoD clone" and hates on it relentlessly.

 

[BrotherRool]

Why would they do that??! If you want to beat CoD you suck up their fans whilst they're bored with the old and the new seems far off, you don't just stand in front of a steamroller.

How many MMO's would succeed if launched same day as Cataclysm, no matter how good they were?

 

[Schmittler]

I feel like this is a foolish idea. I thought that the reason Battlefield: Bad Company 2 was so successful was because it launched at a different time, spring. This got people from the CoD fanbase to buy it because they wanted something to hold them over. Pitting them against each other is likely going to end up hurting BF3, which is really unfortunate because I would put money on it being a more exciting and enjoyable experience.

People are not going to want to shell out $120 to get two games that could be good. They are likely going to stick with an already well established franchise (not that BF isn't well established, but in the general shooter public, most of whom that don't follow videogames, CoD holds greater influence at least from what I've seen.)

 

[FFHAuthor]

Awesome. I can see it now, midnight release for both on the same day...Fanboys of each game...interacting...

Just visualize that for a moment, and laugh.

 

[Black Watch]

So there is a chance that I am going to get both of the games on the exact same day.. I guess I am flipping a coin to find out which to play first.

 

[Vrach]

Alright. Let's just hope that doesn't mean a long postponing or a rushed release.

I have to wonder out loud though, is it really good business strategy to announce this move? I don't see what they gain from it and they're losing a lot of PR in the form of respect from long time fans who don't give a rats arse about CoD.

 

[N3vans]

I'll be getting Battlefield 3, I like the Call of Duty singleplayer campaigns but I rarely bother with the multiplayer for too long because I find it too 'arcadey' (not to mention some of the dickheads that play it). On that basis I won't bother spending £35/40 at release just for that.