You also have to remember what happened last time EA tried this. SimCity... *shudder*
To some, a decent multiplayer experience would be better than poor single player campaigns and multiplayer connectivity.
I don't think it would have mattered that much if it was a PC exclusive, but with console launches that is presentable problem.
Interesting how research can suggest that a substantial proportion of players have internet access. In fairness, I can remember back in 2008 my godmother's son picking up World at War on release day, got home and went straight into multiplayer matchmaking. I think he never touched the campaign once.
You also have to remember what happened last time EA tried this. SimCity... *shudder*
MP3 - Night Sky Patrol of Tomorrow [IA]
Spoiler!
Totalbiscuit discussed this in one of his Content Patches, and while I'm disappointed there is no single player, given the franchises history with decent storylines, I must say that I agree with his reasoning. Don't ruin the game with a poorly developed singleplayer mode if it doesn't need to be there.