A Battleverse, if you will.
EA's Andrew Wilson sure likes his bold claims. When he ascended to the CEO throne he declared that EA was gonna be "The world's greatest games company." Earlier this year he was imagineering a world in which 3 billion people were creating EA's games using EA's AI tech. Now he's saying the next Battlefield is gonna be absolutely massive. So massive that it's "one of the most ambitious projects in our history."
That quote comes from Wilson's prepared remarks regarding EA's Q1 2025 financial results, released yesterday. The company had a good year, reckon the execs, who say releases like EA Sports College Football 25 and strong live service performance have "delivered Q1 results above expectations." They're also very excited about Madden, EA Sports FC and, of course, Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
But it's the Battlefield hype that catches my eye. The series has endured a rocky road recently: An entire studio dedicated to singleplayer Battlefield stuff got laid off in a flash earlier this year, and Battlefield 2042 hasn't exactly won over the hearts and minds of long-time fans. The game sits at an unenviable, beige "Mixed" rating over on Steam.
You wouldn't know that to hear Wilson talk about the next one. "This is not just one of our top priorities, it is also one of the most ambitious projects in our history. We have brought together the very best team coupled with the resources and technology they need to deliver an epic Battlefield experience."
Despite the studio closure earlier this year, Wilson has previously referred to the team working on the next Battlefield as "the largest Battlefield team in franchise history," set to "build a Battlefield universe across connected multiplayer and singleplayer experiences." I imagine that kind of stuff might sting if you were one of the devs at the now-shuttered studio.
In other words, Wilson is chatting like EA is putting a lot of eggs in the Battlefield basket despite the series' lacklustre performance over the last several years, apparently encouraged by "our team’s unique ability to listen, learn, and draw inspiration from the community to deepen connection with the franchise," a talent that has drawn "over 25 million players over the last 12 months."
To be fair, he might have a point. Our own FPS czar Morgan Park reckons EA managed to turn the game around in the end, but it's hard not to feel like that rocky launch did lasting damage. I'll be very curious to see if DICE manages to live up to Wilson's hype with the upcoming Battlefield universe. I worry about the fallout if it doesn't.
