EA Not Worried About BioShock 2 Stealing Dante's Spotlight

It's already been pointed out numerous times, but we'll say it again: this is the most jam-packed Q1 in the video game industry we can remember. Next week is a good example, as both EA's Dante's Inferno and 2K Games' BioShock 2 will be shipping on Tuesday, February 9. While EA is doing its best to promote a brand-new IP (including a Super Bowl ad spot), 2K Games has an advantage in that BioShock is already a hit franchise and fans are clamoring for more action in Rapture. 

In a new interview with EA's Visceral Games studio, we asked senior VP Nick Earl if BioShock 2's launch on the very same day as his new property was a big worry. If he's concerned, he didn't really show it, and there's nothing he can do about it now anyway. 

"In life, there's the things you can control and things you can't control. What we can control here is the business infrastructure and the quality of the stuff we create. Whether we're in a busy quarter or a busy year, we can't change that. I can't be too concerned with our competitive slate; our team has put so much time into Dante's Inferno and I have a lot of faith in it," he said. 

Earl added, "We thought about the right time to launch Dante's Inferno. We're in this for the long run, and we think quality will rule the day. We really think we have a winner in the game; right now we're at three million downloads of the demo."

We've had a chance to briefly play Dante's Inferno and BioShock 2, and both honestly seem like a lot of fun. Gamers will likely enjoy both experiences, but consumers' budgets are strained in this economy, so one game may ultimately find itself more rented than purchased.