Battlefield 3 outpacing Black Ops pre-orders

Analysts have recently upped their target figures for EA’s Battlefield 3 sales.  Cowen and Company had previously estimated that DICE’s upcoming first person shooter would sell around 8 million copies. Apparently all that marketing and buzz generated around E3 has resonated with consumers because the analysis firm has raised their target almost 40% from 8 million copies to 11 million copies.

Recent pre-order figures for the game are pacing it ahead of last year’s smash hit, Call of Duty: Black Ops.  Does that mean that Battlefield 3 will sell more than Black Ops?  Probably not, but Black Ops went on to be one of the most successful video game launches of all time.

Battlefield 3 was recently on display at E3 2011 where many critics awarded it the best shooter of the show.  Coming off the big buzz of gaming’s biggest event, gameplay videos have recently surfaced that should urge those of you who haven’t pre-ordered the game yet, to do so.  There’s also that little thing called the “Back to Karkand” pack that all pre-orders will recieve.  It’s basically a collection of the most popular maps in the history of the franchise which DICE is including for free if you pre-order the limited edition of the game.

Earlier in the week, retailers also noted that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was outpacing Black Ops in pre-orders as well.  Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3 are scheduled to release games in late October and early November respectively alongside new community expanding initiatives with Battlefield 3’s Battlelog and Modern Warfare 3’s Elite.  This should get interesting as we move toward the homestretch of these releases.