Call of Duty once again is expected to generate massive revenue this holiday season and possible outsell all other games. EA has made it abundantly clear that it wants to wrestle away a chunk of that shooter market from Activision. The war of words at times has gotten ugly, but you can be sure EA's not backing down. EA COO Peter Moore fully expects Battlefield 3 to take some sales away from Modern Warfare 3.
"It's less about being second place. This is about taking market share. This is really about a long-term strategy in what we think is a very important shooter segment that has driven over the last few years multiple billions of dollars of revenue into the industry," Moore told GameSpot at Gamescom. "If you look at last year, you might argue that Call of Duty took maybe 90 percent of the market share. We think we can knock that down to 70 percent this year. We don't have to outsell Call of Duty to have a very successful year. This is a long-term strategy to be a major player, if not ultimately a dominant player in this industry. But it starts this year."
It may take a few years, but Moore fully believes EA can retake the shooter crown. He cited another example in the sports genre to back up his point.
"Again, we've got a precedent. If you remember, FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer used to be as recently as three or four years ago, head-to-head in a lot of markets, with PES as the dominant brand. We invested enormously in both the quality of the game, the marketing, a real focus on getting the game right, and being there for gamers and building a community around it. It's no different than what we intend to do in the shooter category," he noted.
Battlefield 3 does look impressive, but is it enough? Does EA have the right arsenal to overtake Call of Duty in the years ahead?
