A new Battlefield game is coming this year and it will be playable at E3 2018 next month, but the game has still yet to be officially announced. EA continues to tease the project, today saying that it will be a “deep and fully featured shooter” that features an “ongoing service” of some kind. The game is in development at series creator DICE in Sweden.
“With our next Battlefield game, the team at DICE is bringing the intensity of combat to life in new and unexpected ways,” EA CEO Andrew Wilson said during an earnings call. “Every battle is unique, and every mode brings its own challenges–from the way you interact with the environment around you, to compelling single-player stories, to the next level of large-scale multiplayer that spans across multiple maps and modes.”
A scene from Battlefield 1
Wilson went on to say that Battlefield 2018–which is rumored to be set in World War II–will learn from what made Battlefield 1 such a major success.
“This will be a deep and fully featured shooter and ongoing service that will evolve with major new experiences for our community, beginning right from launch,” he explained. “Building on the success of Battlefield 1 and taking inspiration from DICE’s core DNA, this new game will advance the state of the art for the franchise, while still delivering the signature gameplay and Battlefield moments that have captivated and grown our global community.”
“All of the things that a Battlefield fan would expect out of a multiplayer game from DICE in the Battlefield universe will be there, while additional innovations in how we’re thinking about the future of multiplayer in first-person shooters will also be there, both at launch and over time as part of a live service.”
If EA does return to WWII with the next Battlefield, it will be the first in the series set during that era since 2009’s Battlefield 1943. 2016’s Battlefield 1 was set during World War I.
During a Q&A with investors that followed EA’s earnings report today, CFO Blake Jorgensen said EA is not scared to launch the new Battlefield game during the busy holiday period. “We’ve been able to compete against others like Call of Duty in the past,” he said, and this year should be no different, the executive added. He went on to say that Battlefield has a “very strong” player community. He said he believes fans will be “extremely excited” about the game.
That being said, Jorgensen said EA’s financial guidance for the holiday quarter includes some “conservatism” due to the crowded release calendar. The holiday season every year is always busy and crowded, and this year Red Dead Redemption 2 is in the mix as well.
An analyst asked Jorgensen specifically about if the new Battlefield game might get delayed to give it some breathing room against the competition. Jorgensen did not answer this directly, but he said EA will announce the game’s “exact timing” i.e. its release date, in the coming weeks and months, potentially during E3.
