Robert Bowling will buy Battlefield 3

Infinity Ward creative strategist Robert Bowling told Eurogamer today that he can see no reason why a dedicated shooter fan wouldn't want to own both Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3 when the two go head to head this year.

Battlefield publisher Electronic Arts can't seem to shut up about Modern Warfare 3 and has been poking Activision and Infinity Ward in public for months, but Bowling said that the baiting "doesn't really get to us".

"I'm very aware that we have two very different audiences and we're delivering two very good and very different experiences, so I think the baiting is built up more of these two really passionate communities - and they should be really passionate about their individual games - getting at each other, and that's been happening forever," a diplomatic Bowling told Eurogamer.

We asked Bowling whether he was planning to buy Battlefield and he said, "I am." He also argued that there is plenty of room in the genre for more than one blockbuster war shooter, even though EA's assault on Call of Duty might suggest that the Battlefield publisher thinks there can be only one victor.

"I think that would be a misconception," Bowling explained. "I think there is definitely room. If you are a shooter fan, you should be getting both, because they're both going to be excellent experiences.

"But more importantly they're going to be very different experiences. The kind of gameplay you get from Call of Duty is very different from what you get anywhere else and I think that's important. I think any shooter fan would be extremely disappointed if you only got one."

Check back soon for the full interview with Robert Bowling. In the meantime, see how Infinity Ward's latest is shaping up in our Modern Warfare 3 preview. The game's due out on 8th November worldwide, two weeks after Battlefield 3.