Analysts: Shooter showdown to drive hardware sales

The face off between Battlefield 3 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 could go either way, but will be a win for the industry, analysts have said.

"They will take all the air out of the room, except for Batman, Skyrim and maybe Assassin's Creed Revelations," Arcadia Research's John Taylor told IGN.

"One retailer offered about 160 properties last year from October to December, but this year they are cutting that back to about 90. Retailers are showing real caution on all but the five 'sure bets'".

But while the software side may suffer, Jon Peddie Research's Ted Pollak believes the showdown will be a win for hardware sales.

"Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3 will help sales of Xbox 360s and PS3s. More importantly, and rarely covered by the press, Battlefield 3 is driving upwards of a billion dollars in PC builds and upgrades this year alone," he said.

"No other title since Crytek's Crysis had such an anticipatory impact on PC hardware sales."

Pollak championed Battlefield 3 in the upcoming battle, citing a booming demographic.

"Hardcore multiplayer PC gamers, who are actually a growing market, are very bullish on Battlefield 3 and are becoming disenchanted with the Call of Duty franchise as it seems to cater more to the console crowd," he said.

Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter took the opposite stance.

"My best guess is that 80 percent of Call of Duty players are in it for the multiplayer, so I don't see many of them defecting," he said.

"It's only the 20 percent who are up for grabs, and I think that for every Call of Duty player who defects to Battlefield, there will be another new Call of Duty player born."

Battlefield 3 releases later this month, with modenr warfare 3 due in November. Both titles are multi-platform.

Thanks, Gamefront.