Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson says Battlefield will be a “meaningful part” of the company’s future
by Danny Craig
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Electronic Arts
Andrew Wilson, the CEO at Electronic Arts (EA), has stated that the company wishes to bring the Battlefield series back in an "entirely new way."
The details:
- Wilson mentioned the first-person shooter series several times in EA's latest investor report (via GamesRadar), when talking about taking "ownership" and "building [...] for the future" of its major brands, which included Battlefield. He also stated that EA has the "ability" to bring the series back in an "entirely new way in the future," though he did not elaborate.
- When investors asked about the status of future Battlefield projects, Wilson replied, "We don't have any date announcements," but added that he had "extraordinary confidence in that team and extraordinary confidence in the progress they're making against the future of that franchise." Wilson went on to say that more information on these future projects will be released when EA deems it "appropriate," but that it is "firmly implanted" in the company's future strategy: "building games and experiences that attract and entertain massive online communities across platforms, across business models, across geographies. And we think that Battlefield is going to be a meaningful part of our future. We'll share more as time progresses.”
- The Battlefield franchise is currently in a rough spot, with the most recent installment, 2021's Battlefield 2042, receiving mixed reviews from critics but a generally negative response from fans. Several factors, including changing core design choices such as removing classes for unique "specialists," the game being riddled with bugs, and lacking many key features found in older titles, resulted in its Steam player count dropping from over 100,000 on launch to lows of 1,000, less than Battlefield V. EA has issued numerous updates to address issues, including the reintroduction of the four core classes, but the game's poor reputation will almost certainly have an impact on future titles.
More EA news:
- Despite numerous technical issues at launch, Respawn's Star Wars Jedi: Survivor peaked on Steam on April 30 with 67,885 concurrent players. This puts it in second place on Steam for the highest concurrent player count for a Star Wars game, trailing LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga by around 15,000 players.
- Respawn’s CEO, Vince Zampella, has expressed interest in making a third Titanfall title but has made it clear that the game is currently in no form of development. He said to make it happen, Respawn needs to find a way to make the game that "doesn't confuse people that are Apex fans but not necessarily Titanfall fans yet," and that it needs to be at the "right moment in time."