And how does the publisher plan on doing that? By making “a better game a couple of times in a row.”
That’s what EA CEO John Riccitiello told Kotaku this week, pointing to Metacritic scores as a sign that they’re already on the right path.
He also spoke of DICE’s frostbite engine, and how it offers the technical capability to take on Call of Duty in the visual department.
“If I had to pick the story I’d like to play out next year is we ship a 90 and they ship an 85,” he said, referring to Metacritic scores. “[Activision has] an awful lot of momentum without heir brand, no doubt. What I’ve witnessed a couple of times in the games industry is the way you unseat a market leader is you make a better game a couple of times in a row. ”
“I think it’s interesting that [DICE's] Battlefield Bad Company 2 got the same Metacritic score as [Call of Duty:] Black Ops,” he added. “We knew we were building on [the] Unreal [graphics technology] for Medal of Honor which wasn’t our foot-forward tact.
“We knew that going in. Our next game [Battlefield 3] is being built on the second generation of Frostbite which I think is at least in my opinion is a class act for FPS. I think we’re going to lift the game pretty dramatically in the first-person shooter category.”
The CEO was pretty confident about his company’s shooter lineup going into next year, with products like Bulletstorm and Crysis 2 bolstering their stance, but it’s Battlefied 3 he holds most hope for.
“I have great expectations to do a lot better in 2011 than in 2010 on the strength of a couple of products like Bulletstorm and Crysis [2], but most importantly for us, Battlefield 3, which I feel incredibly good about.”
Let the competition begin.
If EA is looking at beating Call of Duty in overall sales then it probably will boil down to Call of Duty beating themselves. Because thanks to Games Thirst I have been able to play Call of Duty Black Ops and speaking from a single player perspective Medal of Honor kills Black Ops on so many levels…
MOH story is better, the look and feel of the game is more visceral when I am playing MOH I feel like I am playing in a movie interacting with Dusty, Mother, Preacher and course that rascal Voodoo. Black Ops feels, looks and sounds like a video game……. Speaking of sound the audio in MOH, from military lingo, to weapons firing especially when using a pair of gaming headphones is wicked and so authentic from the sound of the gun cocking to your shells hitting the ground……. Even pay attention to the environment, which is a character itself in MOH. Firefights in the mountains and rugged terrain are sight to behold now that does not excuse EA for plethora of bugs that plague MOH but from a single player POV MOH is years ahead of COD….
Of course single player means squat these days and with Black Ops nearly cannot miss shooting and MOH forcing you to actually aim and their weapons having kickback and recoil spraying and praying is for naught or as I constantly hear MOH is so fracking slow…
ea already won in my books i love bfbc2….. more than blackops COD is okay mostly in it for the zombies though lol
yea, dream on EA, dream on!
the only way EA will overtake Activision in the shooter area is if Activision keeps over saturating the call of duty franchise, i guarantee yall that in two or three years everyone will get tired of COD and look elsewhere. and considering that the original creators of call of duty are with EA, it might be sooner than that EA will hit gold with Respawn Entertainment and their new game. just have to wait and see
@os1019: It’s our pleasure. Also, I think you’re right on so many levels.
I must say, however, that I truly enjoyed Black Ops. And at the end of the day, it’s yet a video game.
@Linglingjr: BFBC2 is rad. Needs help with story but it’s rad nonetheless.
“and look elsewhere. and considering that the original creators of call of duty are with EA, it might be sooner than that EA will hit gold with Respawn Entertainment and their new game. just have to wait and see”
Good observation there, Ghost. I really can’t wait to see what these guys come up with.
Dreams do come true, Nick. They do : )
Good comment os1019…. MOH is way better, but people will always buy COD over it.. Mainly because of the name Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare made for the franchise.
they do?
Well of course they do bro. You know that…
The MOH single player blew me away, and blew Black Ops out of the water, but the MP is the problem that I had with MOH. It was fun, but barely had any customization, and other problems brought my score down, but as far as the SP goes MOH is my clear winner.
I agree with Ghost. Activision’s over saturation of COD is what is going to kill it, and is what will eventually give EA the advantage.
Yeah, but EA must keep the bar high.