It's been a long time since a new Battlefield game came out. The last game, Battlefield 5, was released in September of 2018—making this the longest gap between games in the series' history. But good news Battlefield fans: EA confirmed that a new Battlefield is releasing this fall and will be revealed later this spring.
During EA's earning's call today, EA CEO Andrew Wilson said that more information about the "next Battlefield experience," which is due sometime this holiday season, would be revealed "in the months ahead."
It's not much to go on, but it's the first news we've had regarding Battlefield since November, when Wilson said it would feature "never-before-seen scale." He reiterated that promise today, saying that the game "takes full advantage of the power of next generation platforms to bring massive, and immersive battles to life with more players than ever before."
"Featuring maps with unprecedented scale, the next Battlefield takes all the destruction, player agency, vehicle and weapon combat that the franchise is known for, and elevates it to the next level," Wilson added.
When pressed for more details later in the call, Wilson said: "We don't have anything more to share with you at this point other than we believe it's going to usher in a new generation for Battlefield games and Battlefield fans, and we'll be benefitting from the full power of next-gen platforms. You should imagine we're looking across all forms of the experience to ensure it's exactly the game that Battlefield fans want to play."
These words might be encouraging for some players—especially if you were underwhelmed by Battlefield 5 like so many. The return to WW2-era warfare was met with a lukewarm reception by a lot of fans who preferred the earlier game, Battlefield 1. Even BF5's battle royale mode, Firestorm, was quickly forgotten about.
At the same time, the FPS landscape has changed dramatically since BF5 first came out. Call of Duty's own battle royale is now free-to-play, for example, which begs the question of whether EA is considering charging full price for Battlefield's multiplayer or breaking it into a separate product. While I've always preferred Battlefield to most other shooters, it'll be interesting to see how EA structures this release, given the longevity of Call of Duty: Warzone and the continued success of EA's own free-to-play Apex Legends.
We'll have to wait for the big reveal later this spring. Battlefield games have traditionally released in October, ahead of Call of Duty's November release.
