Activision turned a lot of heads when it revealed Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. Is there anything EA can do to steal its thunder?
EA and Activision have been going head-to-head over the past few years with annual FPS games. In 2011, EA wowed everyone with the long awaited release of Battlefield 3. That game sold lots of copies and is still loved to this day. Activision on the other hand released Modern Warfare 3. That too was a huge success and was an end to a popular trilogy. Even though Battlefield 3 was a success, Modern Warfare 3 at the end of the day was the more popular game in terms of overall sales.
In 2012, Activision won again simply by default. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 sold like hotcakes, even though support for the whole series started to wane. EA released Medal of Honor: Warfighter that year. The game was a flop and I’m sure EA wasn’t pleased with how the game turned out.
2013 saw EA return with the long awaited release of Battlefield 4. With the success of Battlefield 3, it looked like EA might have been able to topple Activision. Activision unveiled Call of Duty: Ghosts that year. The battle for the FPS crown was on again.
Sadly, Battlefield 4 wasn’t the game people wanted to be. The online servers weren’t stable on launch and the game often crashed for some people. Sales for the game were still good, but not as high as Battlefield 3. Call of Duty: Ghosts sold better as it is the best selling game on both PS4 and Xbox One.
Fast forward to 2014 and Activision has already revealed a new Call of Duty game in the form of Advanced Warfare. Unlike with Ghosts last year, some doubters are actually liking the look of the game this year.
One big factor in Advanced Warfare’s favor is the addition of Kevin Spacey. The popular actor adds a bit of class and professionalism to the game. He might also make the story more exciting just with his presence alone.
Another thing people liked was the graphics. The graphics look “next-gen” unlike last year as Ghosts on Xbox One and PS4 still looked like a current-gen game. The theme of advanced futuristic weaponry has been seen as a positive addition too. The Call of Duty hasn’t really used futuristic weapons before so that’s something different.
EA has yet to reveal its big FPS game for this year. If they are to release a big shooter later this year to compete with Activision, it should be Star Wars: Battlefront. If there’s any franchise bigger than “Call of Duty” it’s Star Wars. Star Wars: Battlefront could potentially be bigger than Advanced Warfare if it’s marketed and made correctly. Battlefront 2 was released way back in 2005, so franchise fatigue won’t be a factor for EA. If anything, the number of fans for the Battlefront series has grown the longer we have had to wait for the next one. We will get to see more on Battlefront at E3!