Ben-DutkaWell, they accomplished what they set out to do.
EA never once lived in a fantasy world where Battlefield 3 could actually outsell Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 . But they did want to grab more of the FPS market share, and according to their latest financial update , they did just that.
The publisher announced that BF3 has managed to sell 15 million units since launch, and they expect the blockbuster to hit 18 million by the end of this fiscal year (March 31, 2013). Just bear in mind that these numbers are based on units shipped; they aren't the sell-through stats. Even so, EA CEO John Riccitiello confirmed the game's success:
"We did what we said we’d do with Battlefield. Battlefield 3 took [a] very significant share from the leading competitor on its way to being one of the biggest selling titles in EA history. There will be exciting new developments for the Battlefield brand as FY13 progresses."
Although Activision's Modern Warfare 3 exploded out of the gate and set new sales records early, it has yet to top Black Ops in the overall sales category. A sign of a possible slide…? And with Battlefield really doing well in the shooter world, maybe EA is taking the right approach; chipping away at the mammoth beast until it falls…
Related Game(s): Battlefield 3