Bowling and Infinty Ward "love" BFBC2

By Robert Purchese Published 25 March, 2010

Not bothered by EA marketing 'digs'.

Robert Bowling has told Eurogamer that he and Infinity Ward have a lot of professional respect for Battlefield: Bad Company 2, despite the marketing prods and pokes.

"They have their style of marketing and we have ours," shrugged Bowling. "I love Battlefield: Bad Company 2, I play it, and a lot of guys here play it - and I bet a lot of their guys play our game.

"Each to their own," he added.

Modern Warfare 2, the biggest game ever, shares the same turf as Battlefield: Bad Company 2. EA has drummed up some headlines by producing viral videos teasing MW2 viral videos, offering free additional maps and banging on about dedicated PC servers.

But while Bad Company 2 may be the shiny new kid on the block, it's Modern Warfare 2 still dominating Xbox Live online activity charts posted on Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb's blog.

"We definitely celebrate those lists when they come out," said Bowling. "That's what matters most to us. That's a direct reflection of what our players are doing. Definitely we take a lot of pride in those lists, when we see Modern Warfare 2 is number one since launch."

The first additional content for Modern Warfare 2 arrives for Xbox 360 on 30th March. This Stimulus Package offers five new maps - three of them new, two of them ported from MW1 - for 1200 Microsoft Points (£10.20/€14.40).

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (31) Latest comment 10 months ago

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

  • riz23 #1 2 years ago

    I bet they are all recon tards

  • stuarty_2003 #2 2 years ago

    Honestly can't believe the price of those maps! We will need quantitive easing to pay for a stimulus package costing this much.

    On the other hand...I'm renting BFBC2 at the moment and can't stand not having a VIP code.
    Edited by stuarty_2003 at 25/03/10 @ 17:07

  • erp #3 2 years ago

    Who is he?

  • cozeny #4 2 years ago

    Does he love MW2?

  • GamesConnoisseur #5 2 years ago

    Will BFBC2 overtakes MW2 or too firmly ingrained in gamers? This is an opportunity that MW2 haters would dearly loves to see happens and based on the opinions of which is utimately the better game.

    Fights on but am delighted got a positive praises from rival and keeping the competition healthy and clean!

  • dbranchevans #6 2 years ago

    £10.20 is pretty pricey for that package...

  • mcmonkeyplc #7 2 years ago

    He's going to get security knocking at his door annnnnnny minute now.

  • lordofthedunce #8 2 years ago

    In a way I think that MW2's gain, in popularity, is also BFBC 2's gain.

    edit: and on topic.. I'm not surprised he loves it, it's awesome.
    Edited by lordofthedunce at 25/03/10 @ 16:43

  • Metalfish #9 2 years ago

    IW and DICE are both great devs. It's obvious that DICE meant no harm in their jibes.

    /Morbo voice

    Not everything has to be a competition, humans!

  • Shikasama #10 2 years ago

    Tomorrow: More sackings at Infinity Ward, Kotick clones take over game development

  • BOBBYLUPO #11 2 years ago

    I'm sure it must provide a nice escape from the harsh reality of life at Infinity Ward. A chance to forget about the Kotickian thrashings and the constant pressure to make more money.

  • metalangel #12 2 years ago

    I don't really see them as sharing "turf" - MW2 is all about infantry combat and is the best at that. BC2 meanwhile is about combined arms and how infantry, armour, air and sea units work together. And there's no shame in liking both.

  • paketep #13 2 years ago

    Yep. Bowling has his own style of marketing. It's called LYING.

  • CaptainQuint #14 2 years ago

    BC2 is moving up the Live chart, deservedly so; but the real question is: can MW2 hold off BC2 even until Reach comes out? That game's upcoming Beta will dethrone MW2, let alone the finished game.

  • erp #15 2 years ago

    Woah, why the hell neg me?? It was a genuine question: the article doesn't say who this guy is, and I honestly don't know...

    It's kind of a crucial detail to the story making any sense at all.

    Geesh! *rolls eyes*

  • JimWest #16 2 years ago

    @erp

    I think the negs is due to the fact that you are asking that question on the internet, if you really don't know who Robert Bowling is, even though he is mentioned at least once a week on this site, then you could just google (other search engines are available) it.

  • erp #17 2 years ago

    Sure I could do that, my point is I shouldn't have to.

  • Skurmedel #18 2 years ago

    He's the community manager of IW, which in effect means somebody who talks a lot doing very little "managing of community". I think he's the spokesperson of the company or something. I don't know really, modern companies have so many meaningless titles.
    Edited by Skurmedel at 25/03/10 @ 18:37

  • JimWest #19 2 years ago

    @erp

    I agree, you shouldn't have to, that's why i wasn't someone who negged you, and it probably should have been mentioned, just to ask in the comments section is a slower way of finding out of the information than searching it up.

  • Sharzam #20 2 years ago

    Simple reason why MW2 is on top and not BC2 is because more people will play it on PC. Most will be playing BC2 on there pc for sure and its a PC game thourgh and thourgh where as with MW2 some will use 360 and some will use PC.

  • PING75 #21 2 years ago

    I was really enjoying MW2 up until I picked up my copy of BFBC2 and I just can't seem to get enough of it. The total devastation that can be caused during a game makes me pee a little. There's always something different happening in each game I play that makes me want to play more, be it sniping the pilot of a Blackhawk causing the passengers to abort and parachute into the water and to their certain doom, or, simply managing to sneak by a few enemies and knifing the next to go on and plant the explosive on Rush. BFBC2 to me is like organised chaos and I love it.

  • metallicorphan #22 2 years ago

    i think if you love and play MW2 so much,then 10 quid will prolly be worth it,but i still don't think its an excuse for Activision to put the price up though,especially when two of the maps can be played right now on MW1...i doubt it would of hurt anybody if they charged half that,hey they may of even get some players back again

  • Shikasama #23 2 years ago

    Sharzam, actually more people play it on the 360 than any other console, it was reported on here the other week

  • Killerbee #24 2 years ago

    I traded in my copy of MW2 to buy BFBC2 and I have no regrets and no doubts which is the better online game. Battlefield wins hands down for tactical play, squad-based co-operative gameplay, its character classes (though I don't really like Recon), its vehicles and the utter mayhem that the destructible environments cause when you get into the thick of a firefight. I also much prefer the levelling system and the fact there are far more ways to score points than just killing people or capturing objectives - playing a support role like a Medic or Engineer is just as rewarding as the out and out combat of Assault, which is as it should be.

    MW2 was a fun arcade shooter and I would probably just give it the edge over BFBC2 for the single player set pieces (which were good enough to make me want to play the SP through a second time on Veteran) albeit that the story was bobbins and BFBC2 had the better script.

    Basically, they were both good games, and I'd actually think something was wrong if Infinity Ward guys weren't playing Battlefield!

  • MinerWilly #25 2 years ago

    Shiny new kid on the block ? Battlefield series has been around for longer than CoD franchise . (oh yea and has always had the better multiplayer , yes always ) And now they are throwing in half decent single player campaigns too !
    BFBC1 was better than CoD4 it was just that the sheep crowd wouldnt give it a chance but now with all the hate for MW2 and Activision loads are jumping ship which is great but seriously coming from a massive Battlefield fanboy there isnt a hell of a lot of difference between this and BFBC1 . The biggest and most important change for me was the working comms on PS3 , that has really made the difference for me .
    Those whom didnt give BFBC1 a chance but are now loving the sequel really missed out on a hell of a lot of fun it had some amazing maps .

  • booner #26 2 years ago

    SPELLING _ Infinity ward *** title wrong.

    Wow I'm anal

  • Powerslave #27 2 years ago

    @booner

    lol nice one, I don't think anyone has noticed.

    My thoughts on this article:
    I don't see how anyone wouldn't pick BFBC2 over MW2, after having spent time with both. The people who are now playing MW2 have just not tried BC2 yet.

    IMO

  • Lunatic4ever #28 2 years ago

    well,i left mw 2 quite a while ago.
    had no real incentive anymore,dont know.

    bad company 2 is hot shit right now!
    though vehicles whip my ass very often (tanks blowing me apart)
    its hell lot of fun to cross the huge battlefields ,playing in squads
    and conquering flags one by one.

    this is were i feel comfortable...battlefield 4 life!

  • kimchibaka #29 2 years ago

    Surprised he didn't say if IW are grateful BFBC has free DLC, as they haven't received their royalties from MW2!
    Edited by kimchibaka at 26/03/10 @ 12:16

  • NHDave #30 2 years ago

    BFBC2 >>>>>MW2

  • james-mw3-mw3 #31 10 months ago

    MW3 will see the return of Task Force 141 Captain John "Soap" MacTavish and SAS Captain John Price! Call of Duty games have always had a great cast, weaponry and perks, I'm sure MW3 will continue that line. To think that Activision has slated Modern Warfare 3 for a November 8, 2011 release.