Can Warfighter Steal More Market Share From Call Of Duty?
Last year, it was all about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 vs. Battlefield 3.
While the sales contest was never in question, EA made one thing abundantly clear:
Their goal is to steal "market share" away from Activision's blockbuster CoD franchise. They say they achieved that goal with BF3 and they're obviously viewing this little war as a marathon rather than a sprint. Therefore, they must be hoping to cut into the seemingly insurmountable CoD lead again this year.
However, many will say they don't have as strong a horse this time around. A lot of people are looking forward to Medal of Honor: Warfighter and in all honesty, we anticipate something pretty damn special from developer Danger Close. But does it have the punch to really steal a few more fans away from CoD? Possibly. Some have noticed that hardcore shooter fans seem to be less excited for Black Ops II, at least when compared to last year's hype for MW3. Therefore, maybe EA doesn't need another Battlefield installment to gain a little more ground in the EA vs. Activision throw-down for FPS supremacy.
How do you see it shaping up?
Related Game(s): Medal of Honor: Warfighter, Call of Duty: Black Ops II
Tags: medal of honor warfighter, call of duty black ops ii, black ops ii
7/1/2012 9:29:41 PM Ben Dutka
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Comments (20 posts)
bluedarrk
Sunday, July 01, 2012 @ 11:08:12 PM
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Last edited by bluedarrk on 7/1/2012 11:09:22 PM
firesoul453
Sunday, July 01, 2012 @ 11:12:44 PM
I most think that its partly because many people actually will pay that much and you'll make more money selling half as many copies at $60 than twice as many at $30 (since the cost of overhead and disk doesn't go up)
WorldEndsWithMe
Sunday, July 01, 2012 @ 11:20:10 PM
Qubex
Monday, July 02, 2012 @ 2:27:22 AM
firesoul453
Sunday, July 01, 2012 @ 11:10:25 PM
Reply
Qubex
Monday, July 02, 2012 @ 2:28:24 AM
Dancemachine55
Monday, July 02, 2012 @ 12:28:49 AM
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Like Halo, Mario Kart, New Mario Bros and Littlebig Planet, the power of local 4 player should not be underestimated.
Call of Duty's 4 player split screen, online play and 60 fps gameplay keeps it on top. The importance of content comes at a very close second.
MoH:W looks to be more for the single player lovers and PC enthusiasts.
BlOps 2 looks to be more for CoD fans and split screen/online multiplayer fans on consoles.
Dancemachine55
Monday, July 02, 2012 @ 12:30:42 AM
ulsterscot
Monday, July 02, 2012 @ 12:34:41 AM
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___________
Monday, July 02, 2012 @ 5:11:17 AM
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MoH is far too different a game so no one is going to go buy MoH instead of BO2!
simply because well 1 its freaking COD!
2 its such a different game.
and 3 every man and his dog is going to be playing it, and no one likes to be the odd one out so they will just go buy it so they can be part of the me too camp.
if anything BO2 will steal market share from MoH simply because of its popularity!
not to mention the MP for MoH was pretty crap and was not supported well where COD is always the opposite, awesome and constant updates and features.
slugga_status
Monday, July 02, 2012 @ 8:43:13 AM
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Squirrelicus
Monday, July 02, 2012 @ 11:35:15 AM
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Then you have MoH which is an absolutely beautiful looking game. That alone will draw some of the market share, with alot of gamers thinking the CoD engine is showing its age.
If GTAV gets released, it's all over.
Squirrelicus
Monday, July 02, 2012 @ 11:35:16 AM
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Then you have MoH which is an absolutely beautiful looking game. That alone will draw some of the market share, with alot of gamers thinking the CoD engine is showing its age.
If GTAV gets released, it's all over.
Excelsior1
Monday, July 02, 2012 @ 12:07:48 PM
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Apparently he's not convinced. In the same article posted at IndustryGamers Moore went on to say he believes if Battlefield 3 has not managed to steal some market share away from Modern Warfare 3 then BF3 helped attract millions of gamers to the FPS genre...an equally impressive feat according to him.
The distinction between adding millions of new fans to the FPS genre and cutting into COD's market share is important. It would help explain a lot since MW3 still broke first day sales records and is the fastest selling COD game to date. At first glance it would appear BF3 did very little to affect MW3's fan base. There is no evidence of any erosion in MW3's fan base at all. In fact there is an increase in COD sales when compared to previous COD game.
Hmm. So what do have going on here since COD's sales were not affected? Moore probably hit on a partial reason...EA managed to add many new fans to the genre. Moore might be over looking a simpler explantion however. Gamers may have purchased BOTH games. Gamers aren't going to bail on COD entirely because they don't want to miss out being online with their friends. COD is still the go to game when it comes to multiplayer gaming with your friends.
There is a strong social dynamic going on when it comes to COD's appeal that helps drive sales and makes it a tough nut to crack so to speak when it comes to penetrating COD's market share. EA knows this. That's exactly why EA backed up BF3 with a MASSIVE 200 million dollar marketing campign. It seems to have worked since BF3 has sold over 10 million copies. EA will happily take those sales whether they came from COD fans or not.
It's my personal belief that EA did in fact create some new FPS fans but I also believe a lot of gamers bought both games. Those seem like reasonable enough explanations to me as to why MW3's sales remained in tact. I'm not entirely convinced EA penetrated the COD's fan base or market share all that much.
hehe. Sorry for the long post. I'm sure a lot of you know I enjoy sales discussions very much. Wow. 200 million dollars marketing a single game by EA! That's just an insane amount of money to be tossing around. It's kind of fun watching EA and Activision compete at such a very high stakes game. No doubt they will keep each other on their toes so to speak. Competition is a good thing.
It's true Black ops has not been liked as much by the COD fan base as MW. Medal of Honor didn't get a lot of traction last time. No, I don't consider it much of threat to COD.
Another random thought that's off topic but sales related. I know this is wild thought but I wonder what would happen in today's market if an elite JRPG like The Lost Odyssey was backed up by a 200 million dollar marketing campign. I would love to hear Ben's response to that. Hmm. Maybe a good idea for a future editorial?
Last edited by Excelsior1 on 7/2/2012 12:34:36 PM
DjEezzy
Monday, July 02, 2012 @ 12:27:47 PM
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trinichinese
Monday, July 02, 2012 @ 5:13:29 PM
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Medal of Honor: Warfighter









WorldEndsWithMe
Reply
Sunday, July 01, 2012 @ 10:38:39 PM