Battlefield 3 sales hit 8 million

By Fred Dutton Published 30 November, 2011

3 million added to launch week tally.

Battlefield 3 has now sold eight million copies since launch, publisher EA has revealed.

CFO Eric Brown made the announcement during today's Baird Technology Conference in San Francisco, as noted by GameInformer.

As previously reported, the DICE-developed shooter sold five million copies during its first week on sale in late October, meaning it's added a further three million since.

Brown added that EA has now shipped a total of 12 million copies of the game to retailers.

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About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (28) Latest comment 6 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Adamical #1 6 months ago

    I like the part where BF3 is selling well.

  • coolbritannia #2 6 months ago

    Great game. Some design decisions I don't really like (like spawn rape) and the learning curve is really high now, but richly deserved nonetheless.

  • SaintDaveUK #3 6 months ago

    It would be difficult to deny that this really is a top game. Well done Dice.

  • cheeky-sod #4 6 months ago

    Still need to get this..........

  • polaris70 #5 6 months ago

    With Back to Karkand coming out in a couple of weeks and xmas around the corner I'm sure it will add a lot to those sales. Best MP game I've played so far.

  • persus-9 #6 6 months ago

    I know those are big numbers but I'm not sure how big. I mean they were really going after COD so I dare say the mark they were aiming for was quite a bit more than the 1 million sales most mainstream games seem to consider a goal. I guess the real question is how many did COD:MW3 sell and is 8 million big chunk? I'm not trying to troll by mentioning the most popular fish in the pond, I'm honestly wondering because off the top of my head I don't know. It would have been good to have that mentioned in the article.

    EDIT: Aha! I guess this is the article I should read to find out about that. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-11-14-cod-vs-bf3-sales-war-whos-the-real-victor
    Edited by persus-9 at 30/11/11 @ 00:58

  • SaintDaveUK #7 6 months ago

    persus-9; Dice and EA have never aimed to better CoD sales-wise. They just aimed to make a better game and hope it does well. 8 Million sales is good by almost any standard, and in my opinion, well deserved and I hope they sell more.

    MW3 seems to be judging success by 'money made' rather than 'sales' so it'd difficult to compare, but I think sources suggest they sold about 8 million in the first week.

  • Xardan #8 6 months ago

    People like games with guns and explosions shocker.

  • Yeoung #9 6 months ago

    @Adamical one m0:00re ti-

    Wait a minute, this isn't youtube..

  • DUFFKING #10 6 months ago

    Great game but maybe not a great BF game. Upcoming expansion might change my mind though.

  • Arsecake_Baker #11 6 months ago

    8 million sells and the servers still pump out, 6 vs 12, 3 vs 7, 4 vs 11 etc, and woe betide anybody who tries to get a squad of four friends+ on any one side!

    Still, good game though!
    Edited by Arsecake_Baker at 30/11/11 @ 02:54

  • Sodding_Gamer #12 6 months ago

    @Arsecake_Baker

    I can get into a game within miliseconds, Yet it seems lately that I do end up getting put into a game with ridiculous player numbers on teams like you say! I'm not even joking I was playing a match yesterday with 4 people on my team and a full 12 on the other :/ Was tense though tbf as we nearly won as well!

  • billy-beauts #13 6 months ago

    I don't know why everyone likes this game so much. Warnography is done better by COD, especiecally the single player, plus multiplayer really too seeing as though nearly all the games in BF3 tend to be uncompetitive for whatever reason.

    BTW I'm not a fan of COD.

  • nuanimal #14 6 months ago

    @Arsecake_Baker

    I have noticed the same issue with joining unbalanced teams - only occasionally though. But I found when you've got your own squad of friends, your best bet it to go through the server browser and find a game with 6-less people than the maximum.

    You're right though, it is annoying.

  • christourlord #15 6 months ago

    Now if only some of those people would stop playing Skyrim and come back to BF3!

  • jablonski #16 6 months ago

    Wouldn't it be great if EG had two sites, one for games and one for business news.
    So us gamers could be spared all the sabre-rattling PR nonsense....

    Something like a games....industry.biz or something like that.

  • gillri #17 6 months ago

    Huh? why the hell do MP games like this sell better than strong SP games like Arkham City and Skyrim. Do people like them that much? I like them but enough to negate my SP gaming habits

  • levitate #18 6 months ago

    God have mercy on their souls.

  • polaris70 #19 6 months ago

    @gillri
    Maybe it's because people get great value for money from them. I'll get at least 500 hours out of BF3. But it doesn't have to be either/or, I like a good single-player game too, it's just that I can buy Skyrim next xmas wit hall the DLC, but Multiplayer games need to be picked up within the first month or two in my opinion or you feel left behind.

  • persus-9 #20 6 months ago

    @SaintDaveUK Sorry but I don't believe that for a second. You don't invest in that kind of marketing push if you "just aimed to make a better game". If they said they weren't interested in beating COD then it is because they didn't think they'd achieve that goal in this cycle and didn't want to be labeled failures for getting less than 25 million sales. It does sound like 8 million sales is very good but on the other hand people would lose their jobs if a COD iteration only sold that many. I think it is a very good effort and will put them on a good platform if they want to try again next year and play the yearly iterations game.

  • Okamiwolf #21 6 months ago

    @polaris70 I would feel more left behind having to wait a year to enjoy an epic single player experience like Skyrim. Everyone else will have moved on. Also, multipler shooters have grown really boring lately for me.

  • polaris70 #22 6 months ago

    @Okamiwolf
    The thing about Skyrim is that it'll have a very long tail. People will still be buying it in 2 or 3 years time and it doesn't really matter if people have moved on as it's single-player. I'll enjoy it just as much in 12 months time than if I bought it on release. I'm sorry MP shooters have got boring for you but BF3 deserves the praise it gets as it's a lot more than running around shooting people in the face. The teamwork is the main reason I play it and DICE are leaders in the field at that.
    Edited by polaris70 at 30/11/11 @ 10:40

  • Primatori #23 6 months ago

    This really is a top game, glad to see it sell really well. Its a proper war simulator and the sounds and sound affects are just immense. I actually think it is the sound detail and quality that makes this game epic. When an RPG flies over your head you actually duck in fear and when you hear a tank coming into close range I run for cover. The way buildings collapse when they are hit by a grenade or tank shell to the sound of a mortar round land close to you, its amazing. The game feels amazing and online its the best war experience i have played to date.

    When i compare this to the other shooters out at the moment, they are more like Quake III, small maps with people just running around in circles.

    For anyone yet to get this game, go get it NOW!!! You will not be disappointed.

  • Matfink #24 6 months ago

    @christourlord it's not just Skyrim taking players away - its the fookin crashes every 20 mins on BF3 I can't face :(
    Edited by Matfink at 30/11/11 @ 13:35

  • cyber_nicco #25 6 months ago

    You know, I love this game and have been playing it exclusively since it came out, but it is one buggy piece of crap. There are some days I spend more time trying to get the game to launch correctly than I do playing it!

  • Primatori #26 6 months ago

    @cyber_nicco

    Presume you are playing the PC version then? No issues with the Xbox so far.

  • mrblonde #27 6 months ago

    Have the game on console and half the maps feel woefully underpopulated ime.
    Surely dice could of managed 16 on 16 or something. Look at MAG( rubbish title but..) 12 on 12 is just not enough, thats the only reason the pc version is suuperior imo

  • KayTannee #28 6 months ago

    Does this include digital downloads? I know Steam doesn't publish sales figures, but has Origin?