14 DAY TRIAL // Battlefield: Bad Company 2 will not enjoy sales better than those of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, according to Electronic Arts' Keith Ramsdale. However, it levels the playing field, giving Electronic Arts the chance to take on Activision and challenge its top spot as a shooter publisher. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 has sold a staggering five million copies, a great number for a spring release.
This does not compare well, though, with the incredible success of Modern Warfare 2, which sold 14 million copies in only five months after its launch, with more being purchased every day. Ramsdale had to recognize that, for the moment, the competitor was dominating the market, but he continued to say that, “Are we going to beat Modern Warfare sales this year with any single title? No. But do we have a long-term goal of taking more market share or possibly growing the market? Yes.”
The Bad Company series has been called a strong contender for Call of Duty's throne and this is true especially now, after the incidents at Infinity Ward. Moreover, with the upcoming reboot of the Medal of Honor franchise and the newly formed Respawn Entertainment's projects in development, EA has a lot to be excited about in the future, as it slowly moves to profits and bigger market shares. Respawn Entertainment is composed of many ex-Infinity Ward employees, the very team that invented the Call of Duty series and that created Modern Warfare 2.
After a messy scandal with Activision, Infinity Ward's owner, in which both sides accused each other of betrayal, the two studio leads left to form this new developer in collaboration with EA. A massive exodus of devs coming to Respawn from Infinity Ward followed shortly after that, signaling the Activision reign might be crumbling. The two publishing giants will do battle again for the first person-shooter crown at the end of this year, with the launches of Call of Duty: Blacks Ops and the new Medal of Honor titles.