EA: We Don't Expect BF3 Sales to Surpass MW3's - News

by VGChartz Staff , posted on 09 September 2011 / 13,479 Views

There's been a lot of mudslinging going on in regards to the upcoming Battlefield 3 vs. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 match up happening later this year, but publishers equate success to sales and EA already knows it won't be able to topple MW3 with just BF3.

Speaking to investors, EA Chief Financial Officer Eric Brown predicts that BF3 will do well, but it won't be good enough to unseat the current FPS king.

Just to be clear, the [Call of Duty] franchise did about 23 million units worldwide. We don't expect to surpass them with this year's Battlefield 3 , just to be very clear.

If you think that means the game's going to be a flop or anything less than what EA is expecting, think again. Brown has also revealed that Battlefield 3 is already on track with 1.25 million units already pre-ordered and counting.

While some might think that Brown's statement is an admittance of defeat, I think he's rather realistic. There's no way a single game can topple a franchise as big as Call of Duty is now; but BF3 can chip away at CoD's demographic, and at the moment, that's EA's best bet in winning this war in the future.

Battlefield 3 will be available this October 25, with Modern Warfare 3 right around the corner on November 8.

25 Comments

Immortal (on 09 September 2011)

No, really?

GameOver22 (on 10 September 2011)

At least they're being realistic

Teratus (on 09 September 2011)

it may not surpass MW3 but it'll do very well consider in the ammount of CoD fans leaving the franchies for BF3 and the ammount who are just tired of buying the same game every year

both games will still do very well though thats obvious

XanderZane (on 09 September 2011)

EA is pretty much saying the obvious. Black Ops sold ridiculous numbers and everyone wants MW3 more then they wanted Black Ops. BF3 doesn't stand a chance in sales, but it might score better in the ratings. EA has that to look forward to.

VGKing XanderZane (on 09 September 2011)

As much as I hate BF3(more like the fanboys) I do agree that it will score a decent amount more than MW3.

I expect MW3 to get about 86-90 on metacritic.
I expect BF3 to get 88-95 on metacritic.

static360 (on 09 September 2011)

It's being realistic, as much as i loathe call of duty because of how it is now i would call EA a fool if they expected it to sell more than MW3 at this point. There best bet is in the future.

TC_Squared (on 11 September 2011)

So sad, yet so true.

hagelt18 (on 11 September 2011)

They are just throwing out an "inb4 CoD fanboys thrash BF3 for not outselling CoD".

I think its great that they are doing their best to try challenging the CoD franchise. Because of it we are going to see better BF games and maybe even better CoD games too. Without competition you get lazy.

VGKing (on 09 September 2011)

You know what, even if BF3 sells half of MW3 it will still be a huge success. I have a feeling that MW3 will sell more in its first week than BF3 will lifetime.

VGKing (on 09 September 2011)

Finally they're making sense. Now let's see if they can last until release before bashing MW3 again.

lololol VGKing (on 10 September 2011)

As much as I think BF3 will be better than MW3 (I will be getting both) I do hate how immature EA/DICE have been with their marketing campaign where they have spent more time insulting Call of Duty than they have boasting any new features of their game.

MARCUSDJACKSON (on 09 September 2011)

well at lease brown knows. i still think bf3 will do about 5m on each console if not 8m on 360.

UnknownFact (on 11 September 2011)

That was obvious, that is nothing new. It's up to the sequels, depending how good these two do.

dark_gh0st_b0y (on 10 September 2011)

obviously....

It's alsmot impossible for an FPS to surpass CoD in the near future, CoD sales and popularity grew way too much lately, great job Activision!

Jay520 (on 10 September 2011)

Battlefield will never outsell COD if they don't add in local multiplayer and local co-op. Believe it or not, a lot of games buy COD just for that reason. Just like Madden, NBA Live.

hagelt18 Jay520 (on 11 September 2011)

I agree...I'm awfully disappointed about the lack of local multiplayer. Nothing will ever really compare to having a few drinks with some buddies on the couch playing games. I still want to buy BF3, but it will be on the computer...a game I play online alone at home. CoD will not be replaced because nothing out there takes a real stand to its local multiplayer options.

yo_john117 (on 10 September 2011)

I don't think really anyone expect BF3 to outsell MW3.

Mordred11 (on 10 September 2011)

They'll have bigger chances with Battlefield 4

figure.09 (on 09 September 2011)

i don't get what so many people see in CoD, it's a f**ed up shty game compared to other FPSs in my opinion...

richardhutnik figure.09 (on 10 September 2011)

It does what people expect of it, particularly its fans. It runs at 60 frames per second, and the online mode has RPG elements that get people hooked. They also, with like Black Ops for example, worked to add more stuff to it. If you can't see this, then you really aren't looking or trying to understand and are happy just being a hater. Seriously look and try to understand.

lololol figure.09 (on 10 September 2011)

CoD games are very fun to play, they might not be as good as their success would suggest but they are fun. And CoD 4 is still one of my favourites shooters.