MW3 may be charging an optional fee for premium content.

[katakuna]

Problem with BF3 is, they've cut a huge (I'm talking > 50%) chunk out of their available profits by basing their new rendering engine solely on DX11, which does not run on XP.

http://marketshare.hitslink.com/oper....aspx?qprid=10
Yes, more than 50% of people on the web today are still using XP.

[Isphera]

Problem with BF3 is, they've cut a huge (I'm talking > 50%) chunk out of their available profits by basing their new rendering engine solely on DX11, which does not run on XP.

http://marketshare.hitslink.com/oper....aspx?qprid=10
Yes, more than 50% of people on the web today are still using XP.

Whilst a reasonably valid argument, you have to bear in mind that those figures also include businesses, not just the consumer OS market. Many businesses around the world (including the three I have a connection to) still operate XP because it's a very secure, solid operating system that runs all the tasks a business requires.

Also, depending on the size of the business, upgrading to Vista or 7 would be an enormous cost, because they would likely have to upgrade hardware as well as software because of the operating requirements - even for a e-firm which has two computers, they are looking at an upgrade bill of around £1200 minimum, most likely more. This won't include any training costs for the new software or programs or any other associated costs with the switch (labor, advisory etc.) Obviously, new firms buying hardware now will have 7 as standard, but the vast majority that bought equipment with XP have stuck with it. And I can't imagine many companies installing BF3 onto their systems.

Much like Crysis a couple years ago, I think BF3 may be the game that gets people to buy that new set of hardware they've been saving up for .