No matter how good Battlefield 3 is, it still won’t outsell Modern Warfare 3 in 2012.
Love it or hate it, the Call of Duty name is still going to be the King of the Mountain when it comes to gaming sales in 2012. And no matter how good EA’s upcoming Battlefield 3 is, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will still outsell it in droves.
You may ask yourself: Who cares about sales. It’s really about how good the game is. I could care less about game sales!
Why are sales important? Because at the end of the day the videogame business is just that… A BUSINESS.
And sales mean a lot to game companies. It makes them thrive and it makes them able to make more games. It basically makes them or breaks them. Ask a game company like Acclaim about game sales? You know that company right? They made Turok and the All-Star Baseball series. They are no longer in business because of lack of sales. Trust me, sales mean a lot in this industry.
So who will sell more games this year? My bet is firmly on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. I am going to give you the three main reasons why this will happen.
Name Recognition
The Call of Duty name is iconic around the world. I don’t care if you love it or hate it, Call of Duty is known. It’s been talked about in movies (The Wrestler), Hollywood actors and sports icons talk about it (Kobe Bryant and Robin Williams to name a few), and the name’s been around for quite some time.
The Call of Duty name is up there with names like Mario, Halo and Grand Theft Auto. And with every year a Call of Duty game is released, the game sells like hotcakes. Many thought that Black Ops would flop, yet it is the best-selling Call of Duty game to date. The Xbox 360 version of Call of Duty: Black Ops is close to 9 million sales in the United States alone. Those kind of sales numbers are insane!
The Gameplay and Controls are easier for anybody to pick up on
One of the things that most gamers overlook is the controls and the gameplay of a Call of Duty game. Many say “The game has auto aim, the game is an old engine, the game is just Modern Warfare with updated skins etc”. The bottom line is the game plays extremely well for a first-person shooter, and if you think otherwise you are in denial. Hell, even ElPresador seems to think that the controls are the best in FPS history. Many tend to agree while others oppose its gameplay style and engine. It’s clear that there are two camps when it comes to Call of Duty and Battlefield. And it seems at times that these two camps can never agree on anything when it comes to the two games.
Ever since Infinity Ward introduced the engine for Modern Warfare, the series has adapted it with open arms. Every year Infinity Ward and Treyarch tweaks and updated the engine to meet new standards. But the bottom line is that the engine just works. The controls are fluid and easy for core and casual gamers to pick up and play. Many hardcore gamers seem to have a lot of hate towards the engine, yet the common gamer loves the feel of it. If you disagree with me, just log onto Black Ops any ordinary evening and look at the 500,000 players playing MP.
Now lets face it, Call of Duty NEEDS dedicated servers. One of its largest downfalls is the peer 2 peer multiplayer. This always results in garbage matches and horrible hit detection. It also results in hacks. All you have to do is load up MP on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: World at War to see these issues. Those two games are basically worthless online now. They both suffer from invincible hackers and youtube spammers.
Will gamers ever see a Call of Duty game with dedicated servers? Only time will tell.
The series gives most gamers what they want
Much like what EA and DICE do with its Battlefield series, the Call of Duty franchise always adds something new that gamers want.
With Modern Warfare gamers were finally introduced to modern combat and the latest weapons and gadgets. With World at War gamers were introduced to Zombies. With Modern Warfare 2 we were introduced to a choice of kill streaks, and with Black Ops gamers were introduced to a variety of new things with Theater Mode, Call of Duty currency, Gun Game and other modes. Sure most of these were already in past videogames. Theater Mode was in the Halo series, but Call of Duty introduced it to modern combat-style games.
And while many bitch and complain about DLC cost, Activision always seems to support each game with 2-3 Map Packs per year. And people still fork out the $15 for these map packs.
Now you can sit here and say that Activision keeps rehashing things over and over again, but I really can’t see how that is valid. If anything that is more of a cop-out. The bottom line is that the gaming masses eats this stuff up. And it sells like hotcakes.
Don’t get me wrong now, I love both Call of Duty and Battlefield. But in my eyes they are two different games. I actually think that Medal of Honor is a much more comparable game to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Black Ops. EA and DICE implemented kill steaks in Medal of Honor, and that game has a closer feel in terms of an online experience.
I’ve seen the various videos for Battlefield 3. I think the game looks amazing and it will kick some serious ass. But only a realist knows that Call of Duty will still be the king of sales after both games release this year. Last year Black Ops sold a crazy amount of games for just the Xbox 360 on its first week alone (somewhere around 4 million sold in one week for the Xbox 360). Do you honestly think that Battlefield 3 will beat those numbers?
One more thing to factor in on this sales debate
While some of of know about the whole Activision/Infinity Ward debacle, the average gamer does not know anything about it, nor do they care. Over the last year of so I hear so much about how Infinity Ward has died and the company is not what it used to be, yet they showed off a full working game at E3 2011 that looks to outdo Modern Warfare 2 in every way possible.
They may have Sledgehammer Games working on the MP, but the bottom line is the average gamer could care less about what happened with the original developers from Infinity Ward (Vince Zampella and Jason West) and Activision. That is also old news, and I think that the 2011 E3 showing finally put to bed the rumors that Infinity Ward is DOA.
My own two cents
In my own personal opinion I think Battlefield 3 looks amazing. The PC version looks amazing and the console versions will still look and play amazing. I honestly cannot wait to get my hands on it and have a go at multiplayer. DICE looks to have really set the bar on this one.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 also looks awesome. I love the whole concept of being able to have multiple scopes. I will miss Zombie mode though since its Treyarch’s baby. I will have to wait until 2012 to get my Treyarch Zombie fix.
I know there are a lot of haters out there, but I enjoy FPS games, especially games with modern combat and modern weaponry. So I already have both games preordered.
It really is hard to tell which game is going to be “better”. I actually like go with purchasing both games and enjoying them both. Why alienate myself from having a choice and owning both games? To this very day I really never understood the who concept of fanboyism. Both games look like they will kick ass
What do you think?
Do you think Battlefield will finally outsell Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3? Tell me why you think Battlefield 3 sales will finally eclipse Call of Duty sales. Give me your most valid reasons. Sure Battlefield 3 might be a better game overall, but if you think it will finally overtake Call of Duty, give reasons.
I think you’re an idiot and part of the problem why they get to keep charging us extra money for everything.
@jaih, I don’t think the blogger is an idiot, however you are an idiot if they charges you for money or extra money, I play COD games, and in any way possible, I don’t see where I’m getting charged for anything. In any case someone says the map packs are the reason, don’t be ridiculous and don’t buy it, if you think COD games are just the same, I suggest you to stop buying the filler COD, and just by the ones from the real deal, IW games. After that you will see how every COD has changed, and how good it is.
I might get both games, but I’m not a graphic lover, I rather good gameplay and fun game than good graphics and amazing sound.
This really is a retarded and pointless article. We all know that Cod will sell more. The week it was announced it beat everything in preorders. Activision can literally shit in every single box the discs are shipped in and it will still beat any other game coming out this year, let alone BF3. I don’t support Activision. The way to stop their evil reign of terror is to stop buying their games. The people complaining about Cod are still going to buy every one…it is their fault. And the game is pretty much the most accesible game to play online of all time. A person who has never played videogames before can pick up the game and get a few kills. You think they can do the same in battlefield? Not only will they get their ass kicked but because it takes more time to get skilled and learn from their mistakes, they’ll give up.
Honestly, anybody that is a true gamer knows BF3 is the way better game quality wise. But sales do matter the most to Activision, and they will keep getting those sales because idiots will buy a bag of piss if it’s labeled as Call of Duty.
DON ‘T BE SO SURE CALL OF DUTIY IS A DYEING BREED BATTLEFIELD WII OVERTAKE CALL OF DUITY SOMEDAY
@ Bas, you are the retard and your comment is pointless. The guy who wrote this article makes a ton of valid points. All you see on the internet is hate towards Call of Duty, yet it will still sell like crazy. All the junk about Infinity Ward being dead and Activision sucking. Yet MW3 will still shit on Battlefield 3. It will still kick Battlefield 3′s ass at the cash register. Even you said you think Battlefield 3 will be better. But guess what, it still wont sell as much as Modern Warfare 3. I love how people think COD sucks, yet its a monster hit every year.
@ Joe, if Call of Duty is a dying breed please tell me why there is still half a million people still playing it online every day?
@ Johnny Bravo I agree with everything you said!
No, battlefield will not out sell COD, probably never. I am getting both though, and I must say I’m way more excited about Battlefield 3 than MOW3. Not because of the new engine, new graphics and sounds, but because i find i have much more fun on Battlefield. COD seems like we’re trapped in a box.It has smooth game play, and the customization and kill streaks are nice, but that’s really all its got. Sure zombies are nice, but they wont be on the next one. Battlefield has a much more epic feel to it. The top moments in COD are going 20+ and 0, quick scoping/ blind firing people, racking up kill streaks, and toma-hawking or knifing (throwing knife) enemies across the map. The top moments in Battlefield are running over enemies with helicopters, tearing down buildings with vehicles and explosives, sniping enemies from 3/4′s of a mile away, strapping C4′s to helicopters and flying them at enemies whether they are in vehicles, on stationary weapons, or on foot, parachuting out and detonating before you hit the ground. All of those give more of a rewarding feeling than calling in dogs, or calling in a nuke. You don’t control that mayhem, you earn it on COD. On Battlefield you create the mayhem. But the best is something you can never do in COD, never will be able to do., is to SNIPE PILOTS AND/OR HIS GUNNERS OUT OF HELICOPTERS! Nothing compares to that, nothing. No other game lets you do something like that. All in all, both games will be fun, but for me, BF3 will take the cake in game play. COD can have the money and the blind average gamers. The real hardcore gamers who want to fight in a war online, will choose BF3. Take it how you want it, that’s just my point of view.
I’m a 35 year old COD vet on PS3, have bought every COD and map pack and have to admit I find the multiplayer probably the most most addictive thing I’ve ever experienced in my life. There is no doubt that COD online is king on both PS3 and X360. It sounds incredible, even to me, and even when I’ve bought countless other great games, I’ve pretty much played a COD session every day (when I’m not away from home or at work) for 4 years! When we had the PSN outage, it was like going cold turkey on COD. Other games might even be better, like Killzone 3 or Uncharted 2, but nothing really has the same level of instant online addictiveness and accessibility. But COD vets like me realise we have been playing essentially the same game for 4 years now, and we do hope Battlefield 3 will be brilliant, because we will buy both MW3 and BF3 and it will be at least some competition in our own minds as to which “online fix” game we want to play. Games like Homefront and Brink got average reviews, but sold really well, showing that there is craving for something different. Also for us PS3 owners, the Uncharted 3 multiplayer looks amazing, this could also provide some stiff competition to COD online.
COD will sell more than BF3.
However, BF3 will sell a good deal more than the recent BF games while I feel COD sales will take their first dip relative to previous COD games.
I think BF is gonna take a big chunk back and I reckon that by the time BF4 comes out we’ll see it on a level footing with COD.
I prefer BF now, but I still find COD fun, but it’s not doing much new and will need to soon, I’ll be getting BF3 straight from GAME, but I’m buying MW3 on eBay so they don’t get my money, I’m never paying the ridiculous prices for their DLC again and I’m not getting COD Elite.
MW3 will sell more than BF3, just because of the huge installed COD userbase of millions. If BF3 get significantly higher review scores, maybe more than 5 points on metacritic, then I think EA will gain very significant market share in the FPS market. In this scenario, reckon totalling both PS3 & X360 sales, MW3 will sell around 17-20 million copies and BF3 will sell around 10-13 million copies.
I have a feeling though that both games will actually be great – and score around 90% on metacritic. If this is the case, reckon totalling both PS3 & X360 sales, MW3 will sell around 20-23 million copies and BF3 will sell around 8-10 million copies.
BF always out-sold CoD until MW, especially MW2. Thats proof in itself that BF has always been the better FPS game – on the PC, of which im guessing every BF game has always out-sold every CoD game to date?
BF was founded, built on and for the PC. That right there shows you that console sales arnt needed to make a great game, which DICE always does.
MW is like a whore, everyone uses it because its easy and cheap (console = cheap). They even introduced 60 fps to try make the game even easier to play. How much more are they going to ruin the CoD name? – games are meant to be challenging, which is what BF always focuses on… noobster health regen (BF3) aside but at least now theres destructability to flavour into the strategy of gameplay.
CoD will sell more on the console.
BF will sell by far – very far more on the PC, to the point that MW3 PC sales will be near non-existant as we all know that most of the old skool CoD fans – all of which came from the PC pre-360/PS3 know how boringly easy the game has become during its MW console days, they will either quit gaming, FPS’s, or get BF3.
DICE care about making their games gameplay great. EA allows DICE to design their own games.
MW game dev’s care about winning the next CoD contract from Activision.
@Tom B – PC game sales are very small compared with PS3 and X360 games sales. COD makes £billions, PC sales are really insignificant. I used to play games on my laptop PC, but since getting a PS3 I’ve hardly ever played on my laptop. BF3 needs success consoles if it is to compete with MW3 in $dollar terms.
i absolutaly agree. if i was not lazy i would type it just like you.
COD will beat battlefield. just like every year.
and i saw the pre-alpha footage of battlefield 3 multiplayer and i see no reason to piss in my pants. nothing new.
while in COD i se awesome reloading animations and character animations, real weaponry with most realistic wep models ever, epic story that i will play 3-4 times on veteran difficulty and of course the multiplayer, that i will play another 500 hours.
i see it clear.
iam buyng both games.
CODMW3 to enjoy
BF3 to see the concurency of my favorite.