Battlefield Could Return To Every Other Year Release Schedule, Live Service Will Be A Focus

As part of EA's latest earnings call, the company discussed its plans for the Battlefield series, and this includes potentially returning it to an every-other-year release schedule while also focusing heavily on its live service elements.

CEO Andrew Wilson was asked if the Battlefield series would return its normal schedule of releasing a new major installment every other year, and Wilson replied (via SeekingAlpha), "I would say, I think that is our orientation."

A two-year cycle was historically the model for Battlefield up until Battlefield 2042, which will be released three years after 2018's Battlefield V. Wilson previously said the extra year of development was meant to give the team at DICE the time it needs to really nail it.

"We have rallied that entire studio [DICE] around the development of Battlefield specifically. We've given them an extra year of development ... to ensure that they can, in fact, build a true next-gen vision around that game," he said in 2020.

Going back to the latest earnings call, Wilson said the more important piece to the puzzle is that people should think of Battlefield as a live service franchise that grows and evolves over time. Battlefield 2042's new mash-up mode, Portal, is a big part of this effort, Wilson said, as it gives the community the tools to create their own content to keep the game fresh.

Wilson also teased Battlefield 2042's mysterious and unannounced Hazard Zone mode will play a part in the game's longevity. "So while an every other year launch probably makes sense as we think about it today, we're really focused on 365-day engagement in the franchise at a platform level across any device that consumers may want to play on," Wilson said.

EA CFO Blake Jorgensen added that the publisher will have a lot more to say about Battlefield 2042's live service and in-game microtransaction model in the next couple of months.

"But trust that the team is working very hard on this, and they have some very unique ideas about what we can continue to do, what Andrew just said, to create this as a long-term interaction with our consumers versus simply selling a game this year," he said. "And we want to build a long-term relationship as we have with Battlefield users for a long time. Portal is a perfect example of how that works, and you'll see more of that and more details about that over the next couple of months."

Battlefield 2042 launches in October, but there will be an open beta in September. Before that, you might be chosen for the game's technical alpha, which is kicking off soon.