Following rumors that it may skip previous-gen platforms and only release on Xbox Series X/S and PS5, EA CEO Andrew Wilson has announced that the next Battlefield is coming to PS4 and Xbox One. During a call for the company’s full-year earnings (transcript by AlphaStreet), Wilson said that, “Battlefield will be available for both current-gen and next-gen as will our sports titles.” He also addressed comments that DICE made about the sequel coming to next-gen consoles and PC.
“The reference specifically from our prepared remarks was around the nature of gameplay – what we can do with the fidelity of the game, what we can do with the physics, artificial intelligence, and the immersive nature of the game. And in the case of Battlefield, what we can do with respect to the amount of players that we can have in the game, and the nature of destruction and those all-new Battlefield moments that are truly next-gen opportunities that we are able to do in the context of our next-gen franchises because of the increased processing power and memory and output of the new consoles,” said Wilson.
When it was stated that cross-gen titles haven’t always performed well, Wilson responded, “With respect to current generation versus next generation titles, or maybe we should say current generation versus past generation platform titles, this has been done exceptionally well for decades.
“I had the great fortune of growing up in this company and building games on multiple generations, and I think when you think about our infrastructure around our Frostbite team, our digital services teams, and our game teams, you have unbelievable experience getting the very best out of the past generation consoles to ensure that even as we move to the next generation, we’re getting more and more out of the old generation platforms, and so those games are going to look great.
“When you think about new platform generations, again, with the advances that we make in Frostbite, with the advances that we make in our digital ecosystem, and with the advances that we’re making at a feature design level with the new unlocks that come from power, the games on next generation consoles are going to be extraordinary.”
EA CFO Blake Jorgensen echoed this sentiment, noting that while the next Battlefield will look “great” on both previous and current gen platforms, it will look “even more spectacular” on the latter. “The game has everything fans love about Battlefield. We’re excited to reveal the game to fans next month and share a lot more over the summer.”
As for whether the Battlefield franchise would be annualized or a battle royale mode would be included, Wilson said, “Nothing to announce at the moment on either an annualized release of Battlefield and/or the nature of the modes in the upcoming game. We’re going to talk about a lot around that in the months to come, starting next month with our reveal trailer, which I had the chance of seeing a work-in-progress last week and it is incredible what the team has been able to do in the context of next generation consoles, you know epic scale battles, unbelievable player count, destruction is really incredible, and there’s some very innovative and creative modes for the future of the franchise.”
The next Battlefield is currently slated to be revealed in June and promises “game changing destruction” along with an epic scale and “all-out warfare.” With EA Play Live taking place in July, it’s even more possible that more gameplay footage and details be revealed. Though the game is slated to release this Holiday season, EA said that it would land in the third fiscal quarter ending December 31st 2021. Stay tuned for more details in the coming months.
