<p>During financial presentation, EA COO John Pleasants reveals DICE is already hard at work on a new installment in the shooter franchise, due sometime during publisher's next fiscal year. </p><p><img src="http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/"></p><p>
Though it helped put military multiplayer first-person shooters on the map, Electronic Arts' Battlefield franchise has seen itself outsold by the Call of Duty series in recent years. Granted, 2005's Battlefield 2 was a hit--selling more than 1 million units in the US, according to the NPD Group--as was its console spin-off, Battlefield 2: Modern Combat, which sold 1.2 million units domestically on the Xbox 360, Xbox, and PlayStation 2. However, 2007's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was the <a class='gslink' href='http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/callofduty4modernwarfare/news.html?page=1&sid=6185154'> overall best-selling game of 2007</a> and has sold more than 8 million units domestically (according to NPD) and <a class='gslink' href='http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/callofduty4modernwarfare/news.html?page=1&sid=6209327'> more than 15 million units worldwide (according to Activision)</a>.
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<a href="http://www.gamespot.com/images/0/1/?path=2009%2F160%2Fbattlefield2555_screen.jpg&caption=Battlefield%2B2% 2Bwas%2Ba%2Bhit--will%2BBattlefield%2B3%2Balso%2Bfind%2Bglory%253F&blog=1&cvr=8WR0">
<img class="thumb" src="http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2009/160/battlefield2555_embed.jpg" alt="" /></a><p class="caption"><a href="http://www.gamespot.com/images/0/1/?path=2009%2F160%2Fbattlefield2555_screen.jpg&caption=Battlefield%2B2% 2Bwas%2Ba%2Bhit--will%2BBattlefield%2B3%2Balso%2Bfind%2Bglory%253F&blog=1&cvr=8WR0">Bat tlefield 2 was a hit--will Battlefield 3 also find glory?</a></p></div>
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Now, with the release of archrival Activision's Modern Warfare 2--developed by former EA employees at Infinity Ward--looming, EA is planning a comeback in the military shooter sector. Speaking at the William Blair & Company investor conference this week, EA COO John Pleasants revealed that, in addition to this year's sequel to the <a class='gslink' href='http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/action/battlefieldbadcompany/review.html'>critically lauded, multiplatinum Battlefield: Bad Company</a>, EA is planning a new installment in its core Battlefield franchise.
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"We have a lot of IP in that [shooter] area, and we have not <i>not</i> noticed that Call of Duty has a significant share of that business," Pleasants told analysts during a question-and-answer session. "We are putting a real concentrated effort behind those titles. Battlefield happens to be one of them. ... I've had the luxury of looking at Battlefield 3 over at DICE over in Sweden. I was highly impressed by the way the people were working on that product. That's not for this fiscal year [ending March 31, 2010], but that is a product that is looking very good."
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After saying that work on the download-only Battlefield 1943 (due in September) has been "going well," he said the Battlefield franchise is "strengthening and moving to a service model, and it has multiple titles within it which we can lever off of, so I am bullish on the Battlefield franchise, but it's not our only title which we are hoping to gain share with in the shooter category." He offered the forthcoming third-person shooter Army of Two: The 40th Day as another title that would court shooter fans.
</p> <p><a href="http://www.gamespot.com/psp/action/battlefieldmoderncombat/news.html?sid=6211809#post_comment">Read and Post Comments</a> | <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/psp/action/battlefieldmoderncombat/news.html?sid=6211809">Get the full article at GameSpot</a></p>
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"<a href="http://www.gamespot.com/psp/action/battlefieldmoderncombat/news.html?sid=6211809">Battlefield 3 confirmed</a>" was posted by Tor Thorsen on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:29:54 -0700
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Posted on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:29:54 -0700 at http://www.gamespot.com/psp/action/battlefieldmoderncombat/news.html?sid=6211809