Analysts predicts Battlefield 4 sales to hit 14 million

Despite competition from Call of Duty: Ghosts, DICE's Battlefield 4 will sell 14 million units upon launch later this year, according to Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia. The analyst revealed the prediction today in a note to investors that was focused on Activision Blizzard.

In the note, Bhatia explained that both Battlefield 4 (October 29) and Call of Duty: Ghosts (November 5) can "coexist successfully" despite releasing just one week apart.

Bhatia also predicted that one-third of all Battlefield 4 sales will come through PC, while just 10 percent of Call of Duty: Ghosts' overall units will be sold through PC.

"The Battlefield series resonates particularly well with the PC gamers while Call of Duty tends to do well on consoles," Bhatia said.

Battlefield 4 producer producer Patrick Bach said earlier this month that competition is good for consumers and that his title will emerge as the "best game" this holiday.

Elsewhere in the note, Bhatia downplayed potential concerns for Activision Blizzard investors related to Grand Theft Auto V, saying that game's release date (September 17) is sufficiently far enough away from Call of Duty: Ghosts, which should "limit overlap."

He also predicted that the Skylanders series will remain the market leader in the toys-to-life genre, despite competition from Disney Infinity. And though World of Warcraft is losing members, Bhatia said the game still has "plenty of life and many years of strong free cash flow still left."