EA Games boss: Battlefield 3 will "leapfrog" competing shootersBut don't count out Medal of Honor 2See that thing at your feet, Activision? That's a thrown gauntlet, property of EA Games label head Frank Gibeau. Speaking at GDC today, Gibeau declared that Battlefield 3 will "leapfrog" competition in the shooter category via a heady mix of brand power, razor-edge tech and good old-fashioned quality.
"We're super proud of the game," the EA exec told IndustryGamers in the wake of a dribble-worthy gameplay demo.
"The Frostbite 2 technology is reinventing the category, and the Battlefield brand has its own persona and positioning, the multiplayer and squads ... The combination of the brand and the technology and the quality of the DICE game is what we wanted to show tonight.
"We wanted to show unadulterated gameplay and show it for a long time, in February, and because we don't ship until the Fall it means we have a long time to polish it and make it extremely high quality," he went on.
While it takes more than sound coding to make a great game, Gibeau was adamant that the new game's Frostbite 2 engine, above all, would play a key role in pushing it to the top of the pile.
"We're going to own what we do because we're going to leapfrog the category by introducing a whole new set of technology that's brand-new," he said.
"The Frostbite 2 technology is going to help us do things in games and shooters that haven't been done before and will be tough for [the competition] to match."
Naturally, the biggest target in EA's sights is the Call of Duty franchise, with which first-person shooting has become practically synonymous.
"A long time ago, Medal of Honor was the dominant brand and created the shooter category, frankly, for consoles. I think it's our turn to start to get that back."
"It's going to take time and versions," Gibeau admitted, "and they [Activision] are on their, what, ninth version of Call of Duty? I'm a believer in under-promise, over-deliver, and we're going to compete, we're going to be there."
He was bullish over the mixed performance of EA's Medal of Honor remake, co-developed by DICE and Danger Close, which sold to the tune of five million copies worldwide in the first three months of release, but failed to enrapture reviewers.
"We're really proud of what we did with Medal of Honor. It was commercially extremely successful. We know we can do better with the quality of the game, but we're very proud of what we did."
"Medal of Honor is a great brand, it's nice to have it back, and now we can take it to new places. Medal of Honor is not going away and will be part of our shooter strategy going forward."
Over to you, readers. Is Frostbite 2 gorgeous enough to displace Call of Duty in your affections? What are you most looking forward to about the game? And do you think Medal of Honor 2 has a crack at the throne?