Pachter: Battlefield 3 Might Steal Away Some CoD Fans
See Full ImageThe ultimate shooter showdown is only months away, and one analyst believes EA might just cut into Activision's gargantuan lead.
While it's inevitable that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will outsell Battlefield 3 by a wide margin, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter says two factors could cause long-time CoD fanatics to "defect" to EA's camp. The first involves the Call of Duty Elite premium subscription service, which was met with some negative feedback when it was first announced.
"We expect EA’s game [Battlefield 3] to perform exceedingly well, eclipsing the 6.5 million units sold by the last iteration, and think that Activision’s introduction of Call of Duty Elite (its premium subscription service) could cause a small number of loyal Call of Duty players to defect to EA’s game."
The other factor relates to quality; Pachter adds that if Battlefield 3 receives a 90+ average review score on Metacritic, even more Call of Duty fans will gravitate towards EA. Of course, at the end of the day, MW3 could outsell the 20+ million wonder Black Ops - the best-selling video game of all time in the US and UK - while BF3 might struggle to hit 7 or 8 million units.
Well, such is the way of the craze.
Related Game(s): Battlefield 3
Tags: michael pachter, battlefield 3, mw3, modern warfare 3
7/11/2011 2:51:04 PM Ben Dutka
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Comments (38 posts)
matt99
Monday, July 11, 2011 @ 3:16:57 PM
Reply
8 up, 6 down
Godslim
Monday, July 11, 2011 @ 6:29:10 PM
0 up, 5 down
StangMan80
Monday, July 11, 2011 @ 9:23:09 PM
Maybe it was how it was worded. because I give MW1 a 9/10 But giving us basicly the same game ever since, the games around it get much better. SO the scores drop. That of course is in the minds of any one who is not bias and is a real gamer.
it's a wonder how COD survives... Somthing us gamers may never know.
1 up, 1 down
Excelsior1
Monday, July 11, 2011 @ 3:28:35 PM
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i prefer activision's way of monetizing the online portion of their game with an optional premium program that dioes not impact the base game vs ea's mandatory online pass system. i wonder if bf3 will have an online pass becuase i noticed crysis 2 did not have one even though it was published by ea.
4 up, 0 down
Beamboom
Monday, July 11, 2011 @ 3:30:51 PM
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That doesn't mean much of course, but at least it's a sign that something is starting to happen. All things must come to an end!
I did join in on that collective preorder btw - gonna be fun with some mp action again. :)
Last edited by Beamboom on 7/11/2011 3:33:05 PM
4 up, 3 down
Excelsior1
Monday, July 11, 2011 @ 3:51:57 PM
yes, all things do come to an end. however, i've learned not to underestimate cod just becuase of how long it has reigned over the fps genre. your friends asking you to join in bf3 preorders might mean something but then again it might not.
i've had some of my psn friends pressuring me to pick up brink but i don't exactly seeing it tearing up the sales charts. i would still consider preorders a better indicator.
even if bf3 manages to some day supplant cod i ask this question...what's really changed? it's still a market oversaturated by military fps.
1 up, 0 down
Beamboom
Monday, July 11, 2011 @ 3:59:58 PM
Still, I'd just love to see more than one huge giant dominating this genre like COD has. I think it is healthy for the entire gaming world. And of course, it may not mean anything at all that my COD friends have chosen to "change side" now, but I am *absolutely sure* that the "cod era" will come to and end someday. And that shift may, if we are lucky, begin now.
Last edited by Beamboom on 7/11/2011 4:01:41 PM
0 up, 1 down
Excelsior1
Monday, July 11, 2011 @ 5:25:25 PM
i do think the rise of the fps genre on consoles can be traced back to halo and the rise of xbox live. that's probably when you started to see the fps genre become a lot more popular on consoles(xbox in particular), especially the multiplayer. then you get this gen where the military fps genre really seemed to explode. i think the social aspect of the online multiplayer is a big factor in driving a lot of sales in the fps genre. packing a headset with a 1 yr subscription of live is one of smartest things ms has done.
i do agree it's not healthy for the industry to have one single game towering over the others in terms of sales. say cod sells 20 million and bf3 sells 7 million. that's a lot of fps games out there and it's still a pretty unhealthy balance in terms of genre in my opinion.
the cod era may end soon, but i don't see the genre ever suffering the same fate as say jrpgs. turn based jrpgs practicly got killed off in one single gen. the entire jrpg genre is almost on life support, and i think the rise of twitch gaming is a big factor there. i wish there was more balance in sales between genres instead of seeing all those sales in the shooter genre.
Last edited by Excelsior1 on 7/11/2011 5:27:07 PM
2 up, 0 down
Beamboom
Tuesday, July 12, 2011 @ 3:41:40 AM
The fps genre in general will remain strong simply cause it's one of the few genres that all gamers to some degree are able to enjoy.
It's the "pop music" of gaming, really.
But just like music and movies are able to keep smaller genres alive it *must* be possible also in gaming. And the first step towards maintaining a wide variety of genres must be to not almost automatically label a release as a "flop" only based on sales numbers.
The gaming segment is so huge now that surely it *must* be possible to make a living also by creating games within the smaller genres.
Last edited by Beamboom on 7/12/2011 3:51:13 AM
1 up, 0 down
Qubex
Tuesday, July 12, 2011 @ 8:28:27 AM
Great way of putting it BeamBoom...
Q!
"play.experience.enjoy"
1 up, 0 down
coverton341
Monday, July 11, 2011 @ 5:25:07 PM
Oh crap, sorry wrong thread.
5 up, 1 down
onyotix
Monday, July 11, 2011 @ 6:04:13 PM
sorry wrong post! haha
0 up, 2 down
Clamedeus
Monday, July 11, 2011 @ 6:08:57 PM
Last edited by Clamedeus on 7/11/2011 6:09:40 PM
2 up, 0 down
A2K78
Monday, July 11, 2011 @ 4:08:49 PM
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Other than that I would never buy the console version of BF3 given the fact they would lack ability for modding support. The PC version on the other would be the better version should DICE change its mind in the future and make the modding tools avaiable.
3 up, 0 down
Beamboom
Monday, July 11, 2011 @ 4:24:37 PM
1 up, 1 down
gungrave
Monday, July 11, 2011 @ 4:37:44 PM
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BF3 on the other hand nails down the teamwork aspect on multiplayer. It's not a rare site to see someone driving a tank while having a mechanic ducked behind doing nothing else but repairing it. However the campaign was boring as fcuk. If they nail down the campaign...it's on
COD guarantee will get over 9, ACTIVI$ION will make sure of that. I pre-ordered BF3, I hope they don't let me down with a boring campaign.
Comes down to what you're in the mood for, a Michael Bay type game or a documentary type game without the cheese.
sorry for the long post
3 up, 0 down
Excelsior1
Monday, July 11, 2011 @ 5:41:59 PM
that's a pretty good way of putting it. i think they can coexist together. cod is also at 60 fps, while bf3 is at 30fps. that alone will set the two games apart in terms of gameplay. the cod games aren't junk. they look pretty good (particulary on the 360) and play great.
2 up, 0 down
Nas Is Like
Monday, July 11, 2011 @ 7:51:10 PM
0 up, 0 down
zork
Monday, July 11, 2011 @ 4:46:40 PM
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2 up, 2 down
bigrailer19
Monday, July 11, 2011 @ 6:44:04 PM
1 up, 0 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, July 11, 2011 @ 5:29:13 PM
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2 up, 2 down
gray_eagle
Monday, July 11, 2011 @ 6:11:04 PM
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maby i should'nt comment, the last c.o.d game i played was c.o.d 4.
BF,i got my butt kicked in just the few minutes i played MP :p
BF, imo is more for experienced players.
1 up, 1 down
Godslim
Monday, July 11, 2011 @ 6:32:42 PM
WHAT?! how lol
0 up, 0 down
Oxvial
Monday, July 11, 2011 @ 6:35:48 PM
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0 up, 0 down
Oxvial
Monday, July 11, 2011 @ 7:43:38 PM
0 up, 0 down
Nas Is Like
Monday, July 11, 2011 @ 7:49:25 PM
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I am a huge CoD fan, ever since playing CoD 4 back in 2008. I've been hooked on them since. Lately though, I'm beginning to get bored of them and have been paying closer and closer attention to Battlefield. I'm really liking what I see so far, so I may (just may) be switching over.
I'll also probably buy Modern Warfare 3 in the month of release, but who knows. Maybe not...
1 up, 0 down
tryd1
Monday, July 11, 2011 @ 8:27:41 PM
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0 up, 0 down
sirbob6
Monday, July 11, 2011 @ 9:08:02 PM
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0 up, 0 down
StangMan80
Monday, July 11, 2011 @ 9:29:42 PM
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I'm getting BF3!
P.S. I havn't been a COD fan since Cod4:mW.
1 up, 1 down
DVE2k
Monday, July 11, 2011 @ 11:22:17 PM
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1 up, 0 down
cadpig
Tuesday, July 12, 2011 @ 1:04:26 PM
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0 up, 0 down
KNG201
Tuesday, July 12, 2011 @ 3:22:55 PM
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1 up, 0 down
Deathb4Dishonor
Reply
Monday, July 11, 2011 @ 3:13:01 PM