14 DAY TRIAL // With both Battlefield 3 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 launching during the next few weeks one leading developer in the first person shooter genre has said that the market can support more than one big franchise and that the market is seeing both of them more as services than simply as products.
Speaking to IndustryGamers Patrick Bach, who is the leading producer working on Battlefield 3, has said, “I think this year will see a huge growth in the total FPS market. The market can grow and include several titles as long as they complement each other and add quality and value to the players.”
He added, “I also believe that our free social platform Battlelog will make a huge difference in how people perceive where the game starts and ends. Games, especially FPS titles with their deep persistence and team play are no longer just hard-coded discs. They are transforming into a service.”
The Battlelog concept is being borrowed from Criterion, which delivered something similar with the Autolog that was included in the last Need for Speed video games.
Players will be able to quickly find their friends and compare their performances in different game modes and the service will also allow them to organize for large scale multiplayer games.
The Battlelog concepts is part of a greater push towards social gaming coming from Electronic Arts and DICE and will be in direct competition with the more ambitious but subscription based Elite service that comes alongside Modern Warfare 3.
Bach also talked about the focus on graphical realism in upcoming first person shooters, saying that the team is more interested in creating a coherent experience rather than just cramming in all the details it can.
Battlefield 3 is being powered by the new and rather impressive Frostbite 2 engine.