Battlefield 3 preorders matching Black Ops' pace - Report

Electronic Arts has stated that its goal with Battlefield 3 is to take down Activision's blockbuster Call of Duty series, and it's apparently off to a promising start. According to a GamesIndustry.biz report, the analyst firm of Cowen & Company has found that preorders for the DICE-developed military first-person shooter are "roughly comparable" to those of last year's best-selling game, Call of Duty: Black Ops.

While that bodes well for Battlefield 3's financial prospects, it still puts the game behind its primary competition. At last month's Electronic Entertainment Expo, Activision revealed that preorders for this year's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 were tracking "significantly ahead" of Black Ops' pace.

It's also worth noting that preorders aren't perfect indicators of overall sales. While Black Ops has sold in more than 20 million copies to date, Cowen & Company expects Battlefield 3 to sell about half as many copies--8 million to 11 million units--in its first year on sale.

For more on Battlefield 3, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.