The fierce rivalry between Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3 started ever since DICE's shooter unveil. It got more heated with publisher Electronic Arts stating Battlefield 3 is made to solely take down Activision's game. EA's COO has given his two scents on the inevitable competition for both games by stating Battlefield 3 isn't looking to necessarily outsell the forthcoming Call of Duty installment.
Rather, Moore said, it's leaning towards the fact of Battlefield 3 taking a considerable portion of the first-person shooter market. The EA chief operating officer – recently promoted from his EA Sports head post – explained to GameSpot:
It's less about being second place. This is about taking market share. This is really about a long-term strategy in what we think is a very important shooter segment that has driven over the last few years multiple billions of dollars of revenue into the industry. If you look at last year, you might argue that Call of Duty took maybe 90 percent of the market share. We think we can knock that down to 70 percent this year. We don't have to outsell Call of Duty to have a very successful year. This is a long-term strategy to be a major player.
Moore used the competition between EA's hugely successful FIFA franchise and Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer series:
We've got a precedent. If you remember, FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer used to be as recently as three or four years ago, head-to-head in a lot of markets, with PES as the dominant brand. We invested enormously in both the quality of the game, the marketing, a real focus on getting the game right, and being there for gamers and building a community around it. It's no different than what we intend to do in the shooter category.
EA's COO is indeed speaking sense; the hype for Battlefield 3 undeniably is considerably bigger than the hype generated for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, but while this may give DICE's shooter the upper hand in regards to commercial success, the overall, more better goal in terms of a business point, is indeed creating a long-term strategy and having a major impact within the market.
Battlefield 3 is due for a release on October 25th, 2011, in North America and three days later in Europe. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, meanwhile, releases worldwide on November 8th.
