Activision Focuses on Social Networking / Media To Promote MW3 Instead of EA's Current Approach

When it comes to advertising for their games, it seems like EA lately has been pulling out all the stops, with the Jay-Z "99 Problems" trailer and their tagline "Above and Beyond the Call" (which is a clever shot at Activision's series), it has been pretty effective in gaining attention in my opinion (and the open beta is just as effective as well).

What is Activision doing all this time, advertising-wise? Well,according to this article on Gamezone.com, they are holding back a bit. While it does seem like a bad decision to do so at this moment, I'm guessing when your last game made $650 million in less than five days after its release, you don't have to be going at it at full force, not yet. EA has an uphill battle in gaining attention, and right now Activision is king of that hill. And while they are holding back, Activision is promoting MW3 with a focus on social networking and social media.

While Black Ops alone has more than 10 million Facebook fans at the moment, Modern Warfare 3 already has more than 1 million, which is a pretty strong number for a game that has about a month left before its release. Additionally, Modern Warfare 3 is using social networking to its advantage with the debut of Call of Duty Elite, their online network that focuses on the multiplayer experience by offering gamers exclusive content like early content access, monthly content drops, expert strategies, and exclusive shows.

So while EA is advertising with large promotional tools such as showing trailers with largely known celebrities like Jay-Z, Activision is taking a different but just as effective approach when it comes to promoting their game.

In the end, it just really matters who makes the bigger impact on the gaming community.