EA admits Battlefield 2042 sales were "disappointing"

pcgamesinsider.biz:

The CEO of US publishing giant Electronic Arts, Andrew Wilson, has admitted that the sales of Battlefield 2042 "did not meet expectations".

Speaking to investors for the firm's financial results for the three months ending December 2021 – as transcribed by Seeking Alpha – the exec said that the game's launch was "disappointing". Outgoing CFO Blake Jorgensen said that the game's launch was "tough" with "disappointing" sales. 

"We did have a challenge in Q3 as the launch of Battlefield 2042 did not meet expectations," Wilson told shareholders.

"Battlefield 2042 was always an ambitious game and our teams pushed to innovate across many dimensions including massive scale and 128-player matches, new modes, new dynamic gameplay and more. Developing this game with our teams working from home for nearly two years ultimately proved to be challenging."

Jorgensen added: "We're committed to turning Battlefield around and building a sustainable live service, even if some of the actions we're taking, like moving the first season into FY 2023, impact net bookings in the short-term."

"As originally forecast, the Battlefield franchise would have accounted for significantly less than ten per cent of this year's net bookings and well below five per cent of next year's. We're revising those numbers, but you can see it has little impact on FY 2023 growth."

Battlefield 2042 launched in November 2021 with substantial technical issues.

Disclaimer: Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist and writer who has worked with EA DICE in the past.