Ben-DutkaLast 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
I hesitate to speculate. The fact that Black Ops is going all sci-fi could help steer more people to a traditional war game like MoH, but the first Black Ops if I recall has been the highest selling CoD even over MW3, plus you've got zombie fans coming along for the ride. Warfighter will have to be something more special than the last MoH I think.
I pick up CoD, BF, and MoH for $30 I enjoy shooters. But the one thing I have noticed is that on black friday I was able to pick up MoH for $30 last year and able to get BF3 for $$30 this past year. I'm just wondering why retailers never have a CoD for $30 for black friday? Do they think CoD fans will keep paying $60? Or will Activision not let retailers sell CoD for that cheap? I will only pick up the new MoH if I can get it cheap on black friday I'm not going to pay $60 for it. I have BF3 for the ps3 and just got it for the pc and thats a whole new world. I really recommend playing it for the pc. I'm not saying that MoH looks horrible I just don't want to drop $60 on it.
Last edited by bluedarrk on 7/1/2012 11:09:22 PM
IDK but I also notice that even old COD games are often still very price new.
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)
I prefer to subscribe to conspiracy theories that Activision won't let the price come down. Even super old CoD games still cost too much.
My goodness, you got all 3 for $30 dollars? Is this correct?
Q!
"play.experience.enjoy"
I think black ops was the best COD game of them all, and so I am personally looking into getting Black ops II
but I don't think most fans will agree.
I don't see black ops II outselling modern warfare III
Only played the demo for Black Ops. At the moment though I am very interested in the MOH2. Maybe BO2 will come later, when its cheaper. MOH2 I do not mind picking it up on day of release though!
Q!
"play.experience.enjoy"
If Medal of Honor Warfighter has 4 player split-screen, then it might, MIGHT have a chance to close in on Call of Duty's marketshare.
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.
And just to add, I'm not getting either of these games. Got enough FPS' on my PC and consoles. Got a CoD on each platform, so I'm good.
Burned out on FPS games anyway. 2D platformers have been getting my attention again recently. Thank God for Rayman Origins and LBP 2!!
Not sure about "stealing a share" – don't know anyone who has stopped buying cod but I know plenty who buy bf3 and will buy moh because playing only cod online wears after a while – I need another shooter to switch over too
Bahahaha yeah more oomph, yeah after you pay for a premium service.
hell no!
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.
I think EA is taking the right route. Warfighter has me sold I know that..I thought I might get BO II this year until I saw Warfighter. In Warfighter I think EA has a chance to keep pulling more away from CoD
NO! Because the game is going to be 32 frames per second and not 60, like COD! COD WINS!!! Believe me that is a huge difference.
I think there is already a decline in CoDs popularity. MW3 still haswells old aswell as BOps. The game line up this fall isn't going to favor CoD. Granted this is a PS site, but you can't forget get about Halo4, which alone I think can cut into CoDs market share. And that cut stands to be more devastating to Activision since Xbox tends to be the "official" platform of CoD.
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.
I think there is already a decline in CoDs popularity. MW3 still haswells old aswell as BOps. The game line up this fall isn't going to favor CoD. Granted this is a PS site, but you can't forget get about Halo4, which alone I think can cut into CoDs market share. And that cut stands to be more devastating to Activision since Xbox tends to be the "official" platform of CoD.
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.
Let's try to be very precise when using the term "steal more market share." EA's CEO Peter Moore told IndusryGamers "I'm not sure we didn't steal any share." What a strange qoute. He's not sure they didn't steal any market share so is he sure EA did steal market share away from COD?
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
i have to be honest. Fps are just getting old… I actually prefer TPS instead. Ghost Recon is surprisingly addictive and a blast to play. I'll stick with that. Really the only FPS i'm really interested in are Bioshock: Infinite, Crysis 3 and Dishonored, if you can even call that a FPS Oh and maybe Farcry 3. These war fighters are a dime a dozen now a days and are just getting old. On top of that, with these premium services that they are rolling out, i'm just not sold on them anymore. There are so many other great games coming out during that time that i'm not even really interested anymore. I would be interested if BFBC 3 came out though. I just thought BFBC2 was a better game than BF3 although Bf3 is great. I honestly think the gaming industry needs more top quality TPS games. Anyways I hope EA does well with MOH. I'm just not going to be buying anything from them.
Saw some vids on Blops 2 on youtube, that footage showing some x-ray scope sniper is a joke, I can see a lot of hate if they have that attachment in multiplayer.
am happy that ea and the companys they have with them make there money, but we are gamers , u guys make a great game we will buy it , weather u take market shares away or not once u have a great product u will always have gamers that will buy the game . am excited what danger close have to offer after a game like bf3 and i hope they learn from the last game . but the thing is am an adult gamer and at times playing cod is fustrating because of all the kids i wish that moh does well but also hope not to get to much immature players that it spoil the online game . right now bf3 is showing a lot of that