Mass Effect 3, Battlefield 3 Getting Handheld or Mobile Versions
year, will be getting handheld and/or mobile versions before the end of next March.
EA's release calendar for the upcoming fiscal year lists Battlefield 3 for a Q3 release (meaning any time between October 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011) on consoles and PC, as expected, in addition to handheld/mobile. The same is also the case for Mass Effect 3, albeit for a Q4 release (January 1, 2012 - March 31, 2012).
Battlefield has never been seen on a non-PC or console platform, so a handheld or mobile version of Battlefield 3 would be a first. Mass Effect, on the other hand, does have iOS game Mass Effect Galaxy (pictured above) under its belt, the series' lone videogame spin-off to date. During a conference call today, EA mentioned the company would be revealing some new details about Mass Effect 3 at E3 including something about "some new ways to play." A handheld/mobile game would certainly fit that description.
Other newsworthy tidbits from Electronic Arts' financial results follow below.
A new game in The Sims series is planned for consoles and handheld/mobile for release during fiscal Q3 (October 1 through December 31).
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and SSX are coming to console and PC during fiscal Q4 (January 1, 2012 through March 31, 2012).
During fiscal year 2011 (April 1, 2010 through March 31, 2011), Medal of Honor and Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit sold through about 8.5 million units combined.
As for sell in figures (which is how many copies were sold to retailers as opposed to consumers), seven EA games released in fiscal Q4 (January 1, 2011 through March 31, 2011) have sold more than 1 million units; Crysis 2, Dragon Age 2, and Dead Space 2 have sold more than two million units each. Dead Space 2's cumulative sales "are currently 40% higher than sales of the original Dead Space game over a comparable period."
Including digital sales, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 has sold in more than 7 million units and FIFA 11 sold in 12 million units. The five million units sold-in mark was surpassed by Medal of Honor, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, and Madden NFL 11.
Contrary to some reports which misunderstood what he meant, EA CEO John Riccitiello expects the combined marketing spend of Battlefield 3 and this year's Call of Duty game will exceed $100 million; BF3 alone won't spend that much.
Regarding EA's very recent acquisition of Flight Control and Real Racing developer Firemint, it's been said that the developer may have cost as much as $100 million. EA says the price paid is actually "vastly lower" than what's being reported, though it avoided providing a specific figure.