Battlefield 3 hits the 1.5-million pre-orders mark and counting...
Electronic Arts have put a fair share of their considerable weight behind their upcoming first person shooter, Battlefield 3, and the extra attention from the publisher seems to be paying off as the game has managed to rake in an astounding 1.5-million pre-orders.
Just to clarify how significant that previous statement was, a video game by the name of Battlefield 3, whose predecessor was released over five years ago, has managed to sell 1.5-million copies before the game has even hit shelves.
The report comes courtesy of Arvind Bhatia, who is an analyst at Sterne Agee. The game managed to increase the amount of pre-orders by a quarter of a million within 30 days. One of the reasons could be the Operation Guillotine trailer which hit the internet.
Bhatia, on the other hand, explained that the value of what the game was offering was a major factor in the sales. The value came from the access to a Downloadable Map Pack absolutely free, if consumers were to pre-order the title. He explained, “Note that
Battlefield 3 will include a map pack if the game is pre-ordered. This $15 to $20 value should be a big incentive for customers to pre-order Battlefield 3.”
This is good news for Electronic Arts who reportedly put aside a $50-million marketing budget for the game. It should be noted that the pre-order figure given is an overall tabulation across all three platforms.
Sales should take another spike once the online multiplayer beta is launched and those gamers who are on the fence or unsure of the game, can get to play it hands on. Demos and betas are known for bringing in a few more orders and boosting sales and if the
Battlefield 3 trailers are anything to go by, then the beta will do its job.
Those gamers who want access beta will have to wait until September 29, before it is launched across all major platforms. With a tough decision coming up in terms of which games to buy this holiday season, giving the beta a go would be smart choice for any
first-person shooter fan.
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