EA’s Battlefield series has grown exponentially in importance over the last few years, as it has become the one series to truly rival Call of Duty in terms of its mainstream popularity and appeal. The last Battlefield game, Battlefield 3, drew the ire of some traditionalists because of certain concessions that had to be made to keep the game running on consoles, but that didn’t stop it from garnering great scores, and achieving incredible commercial success.
Small wonder then, that the next installment in the franchise, this year’s Battlefield 4, is also slated to perform incredibly well at retail. Take analyst Arvind Bhatia, for instance. He thinks that Battlefield 4 will sell 14 million units in its launch period. For comparison’s sake, Battlefield 3 has achieved lifetime sales of 20 million units, which puts it right up there with the Call of Duty games.
However, Bhatia was careful to point out that the sales of Battlefield would not take away from Call of Duty; indeed, he very carefully said that both the titles would co-exist.
Analyst predictions are routinely off the mark, though predicting success for Battlefield at this point is like predicting the sunrise.
Battlefield 4 hits Xbox One, Playstation 4, and PC later this year.