The fierce rivalry between Activision's Modern Warfare 3 and EA's Battlefield 3 has hit boiling point - as John Riccitiello proudly boasts of "getting the goat" of Bobby Kotick.
The showdown kicked off on Wednesday, when Kotick called into question Battlefield 3's chances in the console market, saying he couldn't "objectively comment on it" as EA had only shown the game running on PC so far.
And since then, the bad blood's really started to flow.
"We're going to have a clash of the titans this fall," Riccitiello told Reuters. "The very fact that he's trying to cast doubt on our game is a perfect example of how we got his goat. In terms of where this goes, we think our PS3 game is better than their Xbox game and our PC game is better than their PC game.
"If that's all he's got to say, it's obviously going to evaporate as we launch all three. If you went to our press conference, you saw the PS3 footage and the Xbox footage. If Bobby thinks that is PC footage, he's in real trouble."
DICE has also since commented on the event. Gameplay Designer Gustav Halling said on Twitter:
"Well, he wasn't on our invited list so he have to stay in line as everyone else at E3 =) EA said No to Kotick ."
"They think they can go in unannounced before the hundreds of people queuing? =) We have invited people only who can do that."
"We were blocked last year at E3, Gamescom so this is a mutual experience between rivals :P Dont care much about it."
There was a notable difference in bombast between the EA and Activision stands at E3. EA's was at the front of the large South Hall, with plenty of games playable on pods - whilst its rivals was around the third of the size, with no publicly playable games on the show floor.
EA's Battlefield 3 will be released on 360, PS3 and PC on October 25 in the US and three days later in Europe.
Activision's Modern Warfare 3 will hit the same formats on November 8 worldwide.
Comments
65 comments so far...
Nod Nolan on 12 Jun '11 said:
as the owner of the Last 2 iterations of Battlefield and last 4 of Call of Duty, I can honestly say that this year, Battlefield interests me more.
partly down do Kotick who seems to want to "grab" our money rather than "earn" our money.
dannyhulse on 12 Jun '11 said:
But unlike Kotick (unfortunatly), if BF3 and The Old Republic don't do as well as EA want, Riccitiello is gone.
Kotick has job security in the eyes of Acti's shareholders.
Riccitiello has spent so much money on his 2 main projects the shareholders of EA won't think twice about giving him the boot.
dragonjim on 12 Jun '11 said:
I'm sick of this crap, it never stops.
iucidium on 12 Jun '11 said:
I hope they give Kotick his goat back - the dirty ginger jew.
fps_d0minat0r on 12 Jun '11 said:
"The very fact that he's trying to cast doubt on our game is a perfect example of how we got his goat"
...but EA have been casting doubt on COD ever since they announced BF3 so thats a bit of a stupid thing to say.
richard99 on 12 Jun '11 said:
I'm really getting tired of this now.
You'd think they could sell Battlefield 3 on it's own merits and let people make the "this is better than Modern Warfare 3" connection for themselves (presuming it is).
Kotick has actually been more professional
Agent75 on 12 Jun '11 said:
It makes me laugh how this guy goes about in his suit and tie, mouthing off about this and that. You'd think he'd have better things to do with his time, plus hes just showing up Activison and the game industry in general. I bet most guys at Activision are sick of him. Does he always wear a suit and tie? Can't say I have a fave out of the last Call of Duty and Battlefield games, I just have fave missions between the 2 games, but I did think the last Call of Duty had the better graphics. Plus I think Activision are very overrated like EA and Valve.
Gaseous Snake on 12 Jun '11 said:
So then, Kotick's even gone cheap on the E3 stall? f**k me, what do they spend their money on? Seriously, does Kotick have a swimming pool full of money? Because there's nowhere else for it to go, unless he's planning on firing it into space.
In which case, they could employ me to build a mass driver, I wouldn't mind the green (hint hint).
Yeah, I'm not exactly fantastic at being subtle.
headspin on 12 Jun '11 said:
Why don't EA just accept that their game will never sell as much or be as popular as COD.... ever. By no means am I saying that COD is the better game, it just reminds me of the days when people were wishing for an exclusive on the ps3 to the 'halo killer' in terms of sales (in the fps genre), first it was resistance, then it was kz2, both which were good games. All that happened was that all these people who were wishing and some had even convinced themselves the halo killer was just round the corner just set themselves up for a gigantuous fall, and that's exactly what's going to happen here....... EA and various people just need to accept that BF3 maybe, just maybe get 1/2 the sales COD will get and just enjoy their game and the fact that it's very likely BF3 is the superior game in terms of quality......
gmcb007 on 12 Jun '11 said:
You know i'd expect comments like this from Kotick defending COD but EA are starting to look like little immature brats now. It's like a schoolyard argument over who has the better dad. We all know for a fact that COD has already won in the sales department and more than likely they'll both get the same scores.
At the end of the day, us users get the luxury of buying both and enjoying both, something that these devs seem to not realise. Like i've said before: we're buying a £40 game, not a £20,000 sedan.
Oh well, this bickering will continue until November and it will be rinse and repeat.
MR123_C on 12 Jun '11 said:
I'm not bothered about eather BBC or CoD this year cause I think I'm going to spend my time playing uncharted 3's multiplayer
rbt2 on 12 Jun '11 said:
I don't mind the ginger part....those freaks deserve it.
Bit racist there though mate, wasn't it?
Btw, I am not jewish....just a bit tight.....D'oh!
BenThomasFoster on 12 Jun '11 said:
Both are FPMS that lands them in the "alright" category instantly. They seem to be talking like these games are the best games to ever some to market and are the best FPS's to date. well i say skrew them: Portal 2, half life 2 and halo reach are vastly superior to your products. and even then the gratest games in history are the 3rd persons or over head camera's.
theaface on 12 Jun '11 said:
Absolutely no need for that. Just wanted you to know I've reported your post and I hope others do the same.
BADavid on 12 Jun '11 said:
As much as Activision have ran COD into the ground, I'm already bored with EA too - all the things they are criticising Activision of, they seem to be guilty of themselves... Except if anything, they're being even more childish. I'm not planning on buying either BF3 or MW3 - BF3 looks like a good game but the way the entire marketing campaign seems to be based around calling it a "COD beater" leaves a bad taste in my mouth... I'd rather a game's quality speak for itself.
Multiplayerking on 12 Jun '11 said:
They both suck. EA have been less professional than Acti. However, this "war" is just what they wanted.
This is the same as Coca Cola vs Pepsi. They both clashed against each other in an effort to steal some of the market share. In the end, it just led to mutual benefit, both companies generating more sales.
This "war" is just what both EA and Acti want.
Tom tom tom on 12 Jun '11 said:
How about the fact that if they both keep producing more and more modern warfare titles it will turn into something like WW2 and they both Won't have any fans. It seems like their both jealous of each other. Il make my judgement when the games come out. I can already tell you I'm more excited to play gears and uncharted. Also if cod and battlefield want to see what a real game is, they should play the CE remake for halo. The hardcore can defend battlefield all they want but fact remains, battlefield hasn't had a good campaign yet. You know when I seen the first trailer for battlefield I nearly exploded but iv realised I and so many other are overhyping it because it looks amazing graphically. It they would have released the exact same trailer with bbc2 graphics nobody would be talking about it. The tank section they showed off at e3 looked boring. A horrible demo.
iucidium on 12 Jun '11 said:
Pfft, I'm sorry the goat thing caused distress.
iucidium on 12 Jun '11 said:
But as I myself and Hideo Kojima have said, MW3 is more hollywood-style while BF3 has more of a documentary style to it. Do you think real war is on rails tits and explosions Michael Bay fair? It isn't.
Very_Silver_Ownz on 12 Jun '11 said:
So true. There are much better games coming out this year then some ultra serious paintball simulators.
JD_Method on 12 Jun '11 said:
I think he wipes his arse with it. I've heard reports from people at E3 that Kotick was spotted leaving the men's room with several $100 bills stuck to his shoe.
Jer Stryker on 12 Jun '11 said:
This is so stupid. These guys need to just shut up and make games. They are starting to act like some of the people on their servers. If both games are good, they will both do well.
MJF V1 on 12 Jun '11 said:
"In terms of where this goes, we think our PS3 game is better than their Xbox game and our PC game is better than their PC game. "
So he think their version of Battlefield on 360 sucks? That's the way he's making it sound. Couldn't he have simply said their version is superior to theirs on all platforms? Cause now if I was interested in buying this game, as a 360 only owner I'd be a little weary in wondering if the 360 version was any good now.
MonkeyWrench127 on 12 Jun '11 said:
Bleh, they can carry on arguing for all I care, at the end of the day while everyone is banging on about which one's better, I'll be fighting dragons on Skyrim...
wasted-again on 12 Jun '11 said:
Why don't EA put their money where their mouth is and launch on the same day? Maybe show their game running on console as well? Surely they don't have anything to hide?
KK-Headcharge78 on 12 Jun '11 said:
Whoa get over yourself Mr Daily Mail reader, it's hardly racist, get a bloody grip.
As for goats, BF3 and Kotick well the first is a good shag (apparently) the 2nd will have it's fingers crossed that it's 3rd time lucky after all this willy waving and for the 3rd we can confirm that Kotick is NOT the most evil man in the world as recent events in Libya have put Gaddafi there.
evileyecheese on 12 Jun '11 said:
they sould collaborate and make modern warfare vs badcompany millenium fight 2000
rivariad on 12 Jun '11 said:
i f.ckin hate shoot em ups especially war games and very especially popular ones. so i always hated call of duty and played nothing but rpgs, but this engine of battlefield makes me wanna cry, i'm gonna buy it so hard shelves will be all whitey
creamerybutter on 12 Jun '11 said:
It's hardly racist? Are you joking? I think you need to look up the definition of racism....
Who cares about the slanging match between the devs? Let the games do the talking..
360365 on 12 Jun '11 said:
Stick the two little f**kers in the school yard and let em fight it out, my dads better than yours mentality.
Headsrinker on 12 Jun '11 said:
This is exactly what the gaming genre needed to give it a good shake up. EA eating into Activision's sales figures might actually mean that future COD's may be innovative and try to be more than just 'another COD'. Activision have had it all their own way for the last few years, but thats not gonna be the case now. EA look like there releasing a game that is as good as, or better than Activision's efforts.
So for those who are getting tired of this media battle, i think you should get used to it. Its only going to become more frequent as we approach October/November
MattyR95 on 12 Jun '11 said:
I love all this! But I think it may come back to bite EA, many good games are outsold by inferior ones. EA will sound stupid if they get outsold massively.
liveswired on 12 Jun '11 said:
Modern Warfare and MW2 under Infinity Ward are excellent titles. Treyarch's offerings leave alot to be desired and get top ratings of the back of Infinity Wards excellence. Unfortunately I can't see another COD that will match the might of MW2.
Red Deer01 on 12 Jun '11 said:
I sense that you think MW2 was a better game than MW, BLOPS and W@W....
I have now disregarded your comment and you as a person. Because no living being could say that game was good, especially when comparing it to past and future installments. The whole game was hype on a disc, thats what they literally sold. Hype; on a disk.
On topic; arguments getting silly now. Even though i'm on battlefields team. Its nice to have confidence. But then theres going over the top; gotta let the product do the talking every now and then. Then hype it up without looking like an ingnorant jerk.
marathi on 12 Jun '11 said:
Wether they are behaving like brats or not, trash talking each other up through the roof, the fact of the matter is that all this competition actually serves us consumers in the end. However, I fail to see how they could really compete with each other, as they are two totally different games. Remember, this is Battlefield 3 we're talking about, not Bad Company 3, which emphasises on a totally different kind of gameplay.
Most consumers will probably end up buying both titles, anyway, although I know who'll be getting my two cents.
marathi on 12 Jun '11 said:
I think you're underestimating DICE here.
EA, however...
DivideEX on 12 Jun '11 said:
There's no need for such ignorant, bigoted comments.
On topic, I was thinking about getting Battlefield 3, but EA's attitude over the last few weeks has really put me off. I don't think I'm going to bother with either MW3 or BF3 now.
mogel94 on 12 Jun '11 said:
Batman Arkam City shall destroy both of them!
solamon77 on 12 Jun '11 said:
I'm sure Battlefield 3 is going to be the better game. The question is whether or not that's going to matter considering how entrenched Call of Duty now is. It's practically a household name now. The best game doesn't always win. As a matter of fact, I'd go so far as to say, the best game rarely even wins.
rbt2 on 12 Jun '11 said:
Oh please do f**k off, silly b*****ks!
If you'd have read my original post properly, and there's a real problem with the vast majority of people om here that don't read posts properly.....you being one of them, then you'd see that I was commenting on his anti semetic overtones
(well it was in my eyes) and deflecting it towards gingerism.
But thanks to f**king idiots like you, all my hard work's been undone.
Many congrats. You must be proud!
DivideEX on 12 Jun '11 said:
Alright, calm down, I thought you were being spiteful towards gingers, and me being one, I took it personally, it can be hard to detect things like sarcasm etc through the internet. I don't see how I'm a 'f**king idiot' for misinterpreting your message.
rbt2 on 12 Jun '11 said:
Fair do's but please don't compare anti jewish remarks to digs at gingers eh?
KMakawa on 12 Jun '11 said:
I doubt that that would happen, Riccitiello is a genius within the industry, and has done EA a major great deal with his contributions. EA WOULD think twice on cutting him loose, as if he goes elsewhere it would be a major loss.
DivideEX on 12 Jun '11 said:
Fair enough.
sammikid on 12 Jun '11 said:
I know a ginger jew,
he sells me weed. . . i call him the ginger ninja!
He be my semetic brudda!
TheLastDodo on 12 Jun '11 said:
I love all this smack talk, keep this going EA and Activision.
Honestly why this is upsetting some of you guys above I don't know.
Wah wah Riccitiello hurt my feelings by having a pop at the CEO of my favourite games publisher, I'm not going to buy an EA ever again
.
I couldn't care less if Kotick and Riccitiello trade your mums so fat jokes up until the release of BF3 and MW3, won't stop me buying either game, only thing that'll stop me buying BF3 and MW3 is if they're crap.
Get over yourselves.
MANYOO4EVA on 12 Jun '11 said:
Do you know what? I couldn't give two s**ts about either of these games. There's more to gaming than goddamn military FPS's such as Battlefield and COD, and this whole stupid war between EA and Activision is becoming rather juvenile, pathetic and boring.
I for one will NOT be buying either game, as personally I'm looking forward to the following:
Rage, Batman Arkham City, Gears of War 3, F1 2011, Deus Ex, Dark Souls, FIFA 12, Hitman, Tomb Raider and others.
The whole world of gaming does NOT revolve around Battlefield and bloody Call of Duty.
Noobsaibot on 12 Jun '11 said:
This game of 1up is great for us consumers. I will certainly get MW3 for quick, "run&gun" arcade style shooting fun and (if it looks well on 360 or PS3) I will likely get Battlefield 3 for a slower, more team based tactical shooter. So, I really am the winner.
I still hate Kotick though... It's that stock CVG picture that drives my hatred.
theaface on 13 Jun '11 said:
Most ignorant comment of the day goes to... you! Congratulations. Speaking up for the most basic level of common courtesy does not make me a fervant Daily Mail reader, nor would it be at all relevant if I was (I'm not). If you think using the term "dirty jew" about someone you don't like is acceptable, more fool you. Ignorant posts like the one iucidium made have no place on a public message board.
LordVonPS3 on 13 Jun '11 said:
Bobby Kotick "in real trouble"? You mean he's already spent those millions he made from MW2? I think not.
Bobby Kotick "has been lucky" would be a better headline. Former Infinity Ward staff had to fight with Activision just to bring Modern Warfare to systems (over yet more WWII games), then they had to fight with Activision again just to focus on X360 and PS3 over PC. Both decisions paid off and Activision shouldn't be credited for either of them. Activision's position for the rest of this generation has been set up nicely thanks to the technology and work put in by IW staff (and 90% - Carmack's id Tech 4 engine).
Mark my words for future reference... CoD is the master of all this generation. 60fps. Battlefield 3 may look nice but it's only 30fps on consoles. These are simple facts that haters have to deal with. Sorry DICE.
Next generation, things will be different... Activision, with their newly accumulated pit of money will keep pushing out the same old stuff as the id Tech 4 engine fails to take advantage of new hardware. Think CoD 3 and you'll understand where this is all going. id Tech 5 is only going to be available within ZeniMax and only titles published by Bethesda will see id Tech 5 licensed. Maybe Activision will go with a new Unreal engine next generation - but odds on that may only be 30fps as EPIC make enough money through licensing their engine that they don't really give a s**t.
_Marty_ on 13 Jun '11 said:
As much as I think this whole ridiculous argument is b*llocks, why is insulting the Jewish worse than insulting Gingers?
Not that I see a whole lot wrong with what as originally said...
creamerybutter on 13 Jun '11 said:
You can't see an issue calling someone a 'Dirty Jew'? Really?
iucidium on 13 Jun '11 said:
Well I had my warning come today. I see the west midlands has a different stance on the use of the word 'jew' as as insult.
Should have used 'penny-pinching, extortionate c**t' instead.
@theaface: you must cry at night after watching Frankie Boyle.
iucidium on 13 Jun '11 said:
Ignorant? I thought it was bloody accurate, if offensive.
toaplan on 13 Jun '11 said:
I think this rivalry will be good for the industry. Like Star Wars vs. Star Trek, Federer vs. Nadal, Oasis vs. Blur... for a while at least the fans will see the wider public take notice too.
Gaseous Snake on 13 Jun '11 said:
Holmes vs. Moriarty... Aristotle Vs. MASHY SPIKE PLATE!
Gambini on 14 Jun '11 said:
I like Battlefield.
That is all.
* La La La La Laaaa Laaa Laaa La La La *
creamerybutter on 14 Jun '11 said:
It wasn't just using the word Jew that was the issue it is the fact that you added dirty to the front, as soon as you add a persons ethnicity or religion into an insult it then becomes much more than a descriptive term. If he was black would you would you have said the dirty black man? I doubt it
Also it has nothing to do with the West Midlands, having lived in Birmingham most of my life I found it unacceptable as did my Brummy misses.
BeauBeau on 14 Jun '11 said:
Bobby Kotick "in real trouble"
Oh man, not ANOTHER dead hooker?
Gaseous Snake on 14 Jun '11 said:
Although I am a bit racist (against everyone), I have to say; calling someone a 'dirty Jew' is bad. It's not funny, it's not true, it's not accurate; it is purely spiteful.
rbt2 on 14 Jun '11 said:
I'm not racist at all.
I hate everyone.
Balladeer on 14 Jun '11 said:
A warning has been handed out for the "dirty Jew" comment. I don't care what may go on elsewhere - it's not permissible here. End of discussion.
I would try to suffix this with a meaningful comment on the subject matter, but Bobby's just too easy to abuse. It's like shooting fish in a barrel. Really rich fish.
iucidium on 15 Jun '11 said:
You must have lived in the posh part - sutton colfield
creamerybutter on 15 Jun '11 said:
nottsville on 15 Jun '11 said:
I've just popped a new video on my blog guys, which is kind of related. My thoughts on Homefront, Call of duty and Battlefield, regarding DLC plans etc. If you get a chance check out a fellow forumites post, and by all means leave a comment on the blog/youtube etc. Many thanks.
http://thoughtsofagamingfreak.blogspot. ... ty-vs.html