EA CEO says they've learned 'valuable lessons', so the next Battlefield is going to be 'another tremendous live service'
EA has hosted an earnings call for its Q4 2024 financial results which, broadly speaking, were just below where the publisher thought they would be. The company reported $1.66 billion in revenue, handsome but somewhat lower than its expectation of $1.8 billion, and so the mood music in both the prepared remarks and the accompanying shareholder call was all about what wonders EA has ready to hit over the next few years to make a whole lot more money.
The positives are what you'd expect, with a strong showing from EA Sports generally and the rebrand of the FIFA series as EA Sports FC a success with long-term benefits. EA CEO Andew Wilson here promised an «incredible pipeline of new experiences, starting with College Football in FY25, positioning us for accelerated growth in FY26 and beyond.»
One of the big questions however, even for shareholders, is just what's going on with Battlefield. EA's one time competitor to Call of Duty has felt way off the pace in the FPS genre for many years now, and even rudderless: a perception not helped by the recent shuttering of an entire studio dedicated to Battlefield singleplayer experiences. Developer DICE has also announced that Battlefield 2042's current season will be its last and, while that game's in a much better state than it launched in, the obvious question is what's next.
EA last month announced that Motive, developer of the Dead Space remake, was joining the wider Battlefield development team, which includes DICE, Criterion, and Ripple Effect. This is «the largest Battlefield team in franchise history» according to Andrew Wilson, which will «build a Battlefield universe across connected multiplayer and single-player experiences.»
You can kind of tell where this is going. Wilson says Battlefield 2042 players apparently «made it clear that they wanted an even deeper experience» and that «a few weeks ago, I was visiting with the teams and I couldn't be more excited about what they showed and what we were able to play.»
La
Read more on pcgamer.com
