I think the BF 1 did so well because of two reasons:First, because of the quality and the will to take a risk and go to a WW 1 setting.For us, it was more than obvious that people were craving a more classic setting( or a more antique kind of warfare if you like, but for publishers and developers it was not an easy call, simply because that was not done for a long while and it was, as I stated, a risk.
The second reason that I personally think that is as important as the first one, is oportunity.BF 1 got lucky that COD is failing this year, due to several reasons that I wont list here,so that gives them the edge they needed.Much like with the PS4 with the XOne.One of the reasons the PS4 is so successful is that the XOne just made the worst decisions it could make at the start, and Sony capitalized on that.BF1 is doing the same with COD and to other shooters in a smaller degree.
Hopefully BF will keep up the quality and who knows, the next game could be based around WW II.That would be even more awesome.
My (locked) thread about how difficulty should be a decision for the developers, not the gamers.
https://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=241866&page=1
