DICE has announced that its upcoming Battlefield 5 will be releasing on November 20th. The newest follow-up in the blockbuster first-person shooter series was originally set to launch on October 19th.
In a recent statement, DICE general manager Oskar Gabrielson cited the closed alphas and hands-on time that players had at Gamescom and E3 2018. “You have told us that you are seeing an increased focus on squad play come through, you are also feeling the difference in our revamped player movement and we are getting a lot of positive feedback for our improved weapons handling,” he said.
“You’ve also spurred us to make some meaningful improvements to the core gameplay experience, including adjusting the gameplay tempo, improving soldier visibility and reducing player friction.” Many of these changes will be seen in the upcoming open beta on September 6th (or September 4th if you have EA Access or Origin Access Premier/Basic).
Gabrielson says the team feels it has “one of the best Battlefield games ever on our hands. A game that will deliver on an emotional journey through the return of unseen single player War Stories, a deep multiplayer experience, Battle Royale, along with our new live service, Tides of War – a journey across multiple theaters of WW2 and designed to keep our community together. With the Open Beta just around the corner, we are excited about the millions of you who will join us and experience the game. And we fully expect to see even more feedback coming our way.
“And that’s why we’re moving our launch date. We’re going to take the time to continue to make some final adjustments to core gameplay, and to ensure we really deliver on the potential of Tides of War. We know moving the launch date means that we all have to wait a little longer. But we’re going to take our time to make sure we get it right.”
It’s understandable that DICE would use the additional time to further polish the game, especially in light of upcoming open beta feedback. Another benefit of moving the release date is that Battlefield 5 won’t have to compete with Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 and Red Dead Redemption 2, which release on October 12th and October 26th respectively. Is it also possible that some features like the co-op mode Combined Arms are also included with the new release date? Time will tell, so stay tuned.
