The recent Battlefield 5 delay into November may ultimately end up being a good thing for the game, which gets out of a crowded and competitive release window, and gets more time to actually include promised features and modes at launch, but it doesn’t seem to be inspiring a lot of confidence among investors. Prominent analysts lowered their expectations for EA following the delay’s announcement, causing the share price to slide by as much as 10% last Thursday, reports Market Watch.
“In previous quarters EA has been able to meet or exceed guidance despite delays or underperformance of AAA games,” wrote Oppenheimer’s Andrew Uerkwitz about the delay. “Investors could interpret negative guidance revision(s) as intensifying competition or waxing tailwinds from [microtransaction] monetization opportunities.”
He isn’t alone, either. Needham’s Laura Martin reduced her target price for EA’s stock from $170 to $150, citing her “concern with the specific release date of Battlefield 5,” and noting that on the heels of last year’s underperforming Star Wars: Battlefront 2, it was imperative that EA not release another underperforming game in a tentpole franchise.
The stock doesn’t seem to have fully rebounded either- today, it is down by another 2.18%, as of the time of this being published, which seems to indicate that the financial market really isn’t thrilled with how EA is handling the game. Given EA’s baffling lack of marketing for the title, as well as their confused messaging, all of which has led to allegedly low pre-order numbers for the game, this doesn’t really come as much of a shock.
Battlefield 5 launches on November 20, for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
