User blog:Smuff/Call of Duty to share Guitar Hero's fate?

Earlier last week Activision's publishing boss Eric Hirshberg said that EA's attitude to Call of Duty is killing the FPS genre. Despite his warnings though, it seems EA is still at it.

In an interview with, EA’s corporate communication’s director Jeff Brown continued to try dealing some low blows, this time pointing out EA's victories in other genres.

Going on the basis of their past victories against Activision such as the Guitar Hero vs. Rock Band, Electronic Arts are claiming Call of Duty will be gone in a couple of years.

"Welcome to the big leagues Eric -- I know you're new in the job but someone should have told you this is an competitive industry… You've got every reason to be nervous. Last year Activision had a 90 share in the shooter category. This year, Battlefield 3 is going to take you down to 60 or 70. At that rate, you’ll be out of the category in 2-3 years. If you don't believe me, go to the store and try to buy a copy of or Tony Hawk."

- Jeff Brown

This is just one of the many comments made by EA representitives as part of the $100 million marketing campaign for Battlefield 3, which is now infamous for putting down it's closest rival, the Call of Duty series.

For those who don't know, Activision closed down the studio behind due to declining overall sales in both the game and the who genre, leaving Electronic Art's title Rock Band 3 as the sole remaining instrument based music video game. Because of these past victories, EA is feeling pretty confident. Although  was released it became the best selling game of its genre, sequels suffered from lower sales due to competition from Rock Band, which never achieved sales close to GH3, and the lack of a unique selling point.

So what do you think internet? Is EA justified or are they going too far?

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