Early indications of just how successful Battlefield 6 will be are hard to parse, but video game analytics company Alinea Analytics stated that the game had 605k Steam pre-orders as of 12th August, based on its research.
That's certainly an eye-watering number, so to learn about Battlefield 6's momentum, as well as its impact on the wider FPS space and more, Eurogamer sat down with a chat with Rhys Elliott from Alinea Analytics to dive into Battlefield 6's initial success, and whether the game can stick the landing.
Eurogamer: How did you reach the 600k Steam pre-order figure, and where does that stand against the performance of prior Battlefield games?
Rhys Elliot: "So I can't give specifics on our methodology, but Steam scrapers, a panel of gamers that take info from. Current figures are at 800k copies through pre-order, revenues of $40m. Far above previous installments and other shooters.
"This is a welcome turnaround for the franchise. I'll not say it's been on shaky ground as prior games have sold well, but Battlefield 2042 and Battlefield 5 have been a bit of a letdown for the community, a look at critical reception or places like Reddit show its been a little bit of a fall from grace for Battlefield 3,4, Bad company etc.
"It's an important time too as EA Sports FC - formerly FIFA - which still is EA's cash cow has a bit of a shaky revenue long tail this year. So there's a lot riding on Battlefield this year as there's some uncertainty around FC this time around."
Eurogamer: Where would you expect to see that pre-order number hit?
Elliot: "I think it'll pass a million in pre-sales. It depends on the marketing campaign up until launch, we've still got two months until its release which is a long time. The second beta is ongoing, and the jury is still out ahead of the weekend which are the biggest days by-engagement on Steam. But if we look at the Steam concurrents on Thursday the 7th August, that was like 335k concurrent on Steam. Yesterday, it was 407k which is an improvement.
"So it depends on whether EA can continue that marketing momentum heading into September. There's a lot going on in September on the shooter front, you've got Borderlands 4 coming out, a lot of other games… It's quite quiet now in terms of releases, so there's a lot of room for Battlefield to breathe. As we head into the Autumn period there'll be a lot more going on, but as of right now it's on track to do extremely well: the best Battlefield has ever done."
Eurogamer: Reports earlier this year stated that there's an internal goal for 100m lifetime players, a large part of that assumedly tied to the free battle royale mode. Do you think the game could hit that goal?
Elliot: "I think it's completely unrealistic, to be candid. These are leaks right, they're unconfirmed. But those figures are around Fortnite territory. Battlefield 6 is a paid game, and yes there is a free battle royale mode, so maybe that's the ceiling that they are aiming for. But I don't think that will happen. Battlefield is Battlefield. It's not niche, but it doesn't have that mass appeal that Fortnite or Call of Duty. 100m is a wild audience number."
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