Pachter predicts Modern Warfare 3 sales to double Battlefield 3

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will sell twice as many copies as Battlefield 3, according to Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter.

Pachter told Forbes he expects Modern Warfare 3 to shift 16 million copies worldwide this financial year, while Battlefield 3 will manage 8 million.

The analyst doesn't believe EA will pull much of Activision's market share.

“I’d guess that around half of the console copies of Battlefield 3 will be bought by people who also buy Modern Warfare 3, so around 2 to 3 million will buy both. I don’t see much cannibalization of the titles,” he said.

The two games combined will bring in $1.4 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter, Pachter said, accounting for 15% of total packaged software sales over a three month period.

Pachter believes both titles will go on selling, with a further 8 million copies of Modern Warfare 3 and 2 million of Battlefield 3 to come in the following financial year.

Battlefield 3 releases this week and has already garnered rave reviews. Modern Warfare 3 is expected in November. Both titles are multi-platform.

Thanks, IndustryGamers.