Battlefield Sequel Not Coming for a 'Couple of Years'
By Kyle Sledge 29 November 2016
Electronic Arts officially declares that another sequel in its first-person shooter franchise Battlefield will not be coming for a ‘couple of years’ or more.
Despite the success of the recently released World War I-inspired shooter Battlefield 1 – its player base doubled the fourth installment at launch, for instance – Electronic Arts has now confirmed that it doesn’t intend to release another game in the Battlefield series anytime soon. As a matter of fact, during an investor briefing in Europe, EA CFO Blake Jorgensen declared that it could be a “couple of years” until another proper Battlefield title becomes available.
Although this specific time frame might disappoint some Battlefield fans, it’s quite possible that the next sequel could take even longer to come to fruition. As it happens, EA’s Jorgensen even went as far to suggest that the followup to Battlefield 1 might not be available until 2018 or beyond.
While Electronic Arts’ CFO didn’t explicate exact details as to what the potential Battlefield sequel would hold, Jorgensen was asked how the company is going to further engage players in the brand. Interestingly enough, he was asked whether or not the EA Sports Ultimate Team model – one of the largest contributors to the company’s DLC revenue – could be applied to to the shooter franchise, with the executive teasing it as being a possibility.
“We’re looking at all of our games and asking, ‘How might we provided additional opportunities for the player to engage?’ The players want to engage deeply in the game.”
When elaborating further on applying the Ultimate Team model to Battlefield, Jorgensen stated that EA executives and developers are more interested in driving engagement for all of its games than financial considerations. However, he also mentioned that fans who tend to play a game more “may monetize more over time.”
Obviously, one of Electronic Arts’ chief goals as a company is enhancing its profits, so with the Ultimate Team model being a proven moneymaker, then it only makes sense for Battlefield to receive the treatment. Of course, fans and developers alike will be quick to point out that keeping the core gameplay intact is far more important than revenue, for altering an experience simply for the sake of monetary gain is no fun for anyone. That said, Jorgensen assuages such concerns by using FIFA 17‘s Ultimate Team mode as an example of the model not taking away from what makes the game enjoyable.
All things considered, with another Battlefield sequel being a long way off and the potential application of an Ultimate Team model to the franchise being unclear, fans can at least rest easy knowing they currently have solid release in Battlefield 1, and more DLC to look forward to. Plus, with DICE and Electronic Arts giving the series a breather in terms of a proper followup coming to be, there’s a greater chance for further innovation to occur and for Battlefield to avoid franchise fatigue, which is a common criticism of the shooter’s primary competition in the Call of Duty brand.
The Battlefield franchise’s most recent entry is Battlefield 1, which is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Source: GameSpot
