Subscription fees for Activision's Call of Duty Elite social service could cause “loyal Call of Duty players to defect to [Battlefield 3],” says omniscient voice of the future and industry analyst Michael Pachter. However, EA's own attempt to establish a foothold in the digital distribution space with its online platform Origin looks to exclude Battlefield 3 from Steam, which can't be good for prospective sales. Is BF3 really going to be unavailable on Valve's platform?
A page published on (and subsequently pulled from) EA's website listed “confirmed digital retailers” for Battlefield 3. Noticeably absent from the list was Valve’s popular digital distribution service, Steam. EA has recently stated that it has no desire to pit its Origin service against Steam. In a post on EA’s support section, the company also states that it “believes in choice” and offers “games to EVERY major download service including Amazon, Walmart, Gamestop, and Steam.”
Above: In this Battlefield 3 screenshot, the fallen soldier in the middle represents Activision shares if loyal CoD fans defect to EA’s flagship FPS
Although Pachter doesn’t rule out the possibility that Activision could “eclipse last year’s mind-boggling 20 million units” sales milestone with Modern Warfare 3 this November, he expects that Activision shares may falter when EA’s Battlefield 3 launches on October 25 and 28 in North America and Europe respectively. That is, of course, as long as Battlefield 3 receives the overwhelmingly positive 90+ Metacritic review scores expected for EA’s answer to the Call of Duty series.
Jul 12, 2011
Sources: Industry Gamers, BattlefieldO
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