Riccitiello hails BF/COD "battle of the titans"
EA CEO predicts $200 million in marketing spend for this year's shooter head-to-head
Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello is anticipating that the head-to-head at the end of this year between Battlefield 3.0 and the next Call of Duty title will be a "battle of the titans" that could see as much as $200 million spent in marketing alone.
Speaking at the Ad Age Digital Conference in New York, Riccitiello admitted that rival publisher Activision Blizzard currently held the number one spot in the first-person shooter market, but claimed that the latest Battlefield game was designed to "take [Call of Duty] down".
"This November we're launching Battlefield 3," he said. "It's going up against the next Call of Duty, which is presently the number one game in the game industry. It's a game that did $400 million in revenue on day one.
"This game is designed to take that game down. If you're looking for a battle of the titans, a Red Sox versus Yankees, if you're trying to understand if it's Microsoft versus Google and what the tip-off point is for this holiday season - this is it.
"There'll be a couple of hundred million dollars of marketing between these two products going head-to-head; similar designs, we think we've got the better product. It's going to be a blast."
In-game footage for Battlefield 3.0 was recently released, showing off the title's new Frostbite 2 technology. No details on plans for this year's Call of Duty have yet been revealed.