I got a really interesting email in my inbox this morning from our friends at Raptr, a service that tracks game playtime and popularity. By tracking playtime, they do a great job of measuring a game's longevity, which can be a much more useful indicator of a game's shelf life as opposed to how many copies it sold in its first month.
The email I received shared some fascinating statistics comparing this holiday season's war-based heavy hitters, Activision's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and EA's Battlefield 3. Some of the stats may surprise you, they sure did for me. Without further ado, here's the email I received to share with all of you, dear readers!
RAPTR Playtime Data proves call of duty FRANCHISE is still king, despite strong challenge from Battlefield.
Raptr Users Logged an Average of 40% More Playtime in Call of Duty on Launch Day;
Four out of Five Raptr Users Surveyed Stated a Preference for Battlefield
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – Nov. 18, 2011 – Raptr has revealed playtime data measured across its 10-million-member gamer network that clearly indicates that the Call of Duty franchise still dominates the first-person shooter market, despite EA's major effort to challenge that position with the Battlefield franchise. Based on automatically tracked gameplay data, Raptr users logged an average of 40% more playtime in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Xbox 360 version) than Battlefield 3 on the respective games' launch days, despite unprecedented gamer enthusiasm and a significant marketing push for the launch of Battlefield 3.
Key findings from Raptr automated playtime tracking include:
· Xbox 360 players logged 40% more launch-day playtime in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, averaging 6.19 hours compared to 4.45 hours of Battlefield 3
· During each game's first week of launch, Xbox 360 players logged 17% more per-user playtime in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, averaging 20.45 hours compared to 17.37 hours of Battlefield 3
· Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 accumulated more total hours played in one week post-launch than Battlefield 3 has in three weeks post-launch
· 53% of Battlefield 3 players on Xbox 360 are also playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, compared to just 31% of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 players who also played Battlefield 3
· During the first week of launch, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 stole more playtime from Battlefield 3 than any other game
· For the first time ever for any franchise, three Call of Duty games were in the top 10 playtime charts on Raptr
Raptr's opinion data found that:
· 81% of respondents were more excited for the launch of Battlefield 3
· 92% of respondents consider DICE a more innovative developer than Infinity Ward
· 58% of respondents said the Battlefield franchise has had a bigger impact on the FPS genre
· 80% of respondents feel the Call of Duty franchise generates more hype through its marketing
"The battle for dominance for the first-person shooter market in 2011 is clearly in Activision's favor," said Dennis Fong, CEO of Raptr. "EA made a valiant effort evangelizing its fan base and generating massive support around the launch of Battlefield 3. Given how well received the game was, EA has a powerful opportunity to take things further next year, though it's clear at this point that Call of Duty is a phenomenon that is unrivalled."
Methodology
Raptr tracks actual gameplay data from its user base of more than 10 million gamers. This data was compared with survey results from more than 6,000 respondents in Raptr's "Battlefield vs. Call of Duty Showdown" promotion, in which Raptr users voiced their preferences between the Battlefield and Call of Duty franchises. To learn more about Raptr's "Battlefield vs. Call of Duty Showdown," please visit http://raptr.com/topic/bfvscod/about.
About Raptr
Created by a world-class team led by CEO and founder Dennis Fong (co-founder of Xfire, Lithium, and Gamers.com), the award-winning Raptr service provides gamers with a central location to connect with both friends and the games they play. More than 10 million people already use Raptr to track their games and to discover gaming content personalized by their gameplay activity. Since 2007, Raptr has raised more than $27 million in funding from investors Accel Partners, Founder's Fund, DAG Ventures, and Tenaya Capital. For more information about Raptr, please visit http://raptr.com.
