Battlefield and Call of Duty can successfully coexist, says analyst

Battlefield 4 and Call of Duty: Ghosts launch just seven days apart this fall, but both games can successfully coexist, according to Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia.

In a note to investors today, he said the success potential for both games is not mutually exclusive, especially so because player purchase habits are different for each franchise.

"The Battlefield series resonates particularly well with the PC gamers, while Call of Duty tends to do well on consoles," Bhatia said. "We expect more than a third of Battlefield 4 unit sales to be on the PC platform and the remaining units on consoles."

Total PC sales for Call of Duty: Ghosts will likely be less than 10 percent of overall units, Bhatia said. "Our point is both franchises can coexist successfully," he said.

Activision Publishing announced during an earnings call yesterday that preorder figures for Call of Duty: Ghosts are "well below" those of Call of Duty: Black Ops II. This downturn was attributed to consumer uncertainty regarding next-generation platforms and described as "normal" for this period in a console transition.

Battlefield 4 launches October 29, while Call of Duty: Ghosts is out November 5. Next-generation versions of both games are also in the works, though release dates have not been announced.