Battlefield had a pretty significant 2016.
Not only did it herald in a new beginning for the franchise, it also managed to realign gamer trust with the franchise and its developer, DICE. Battlefield 1 is, quite simply, the best Battlefield in a long time, perhaps of all time.
It’s arguably the best shooter of the year — be sure to vote in our poll for best FPS of 2016 — and as such has proven a huge commercial success for EA, having outsold Battlefield 4 and Battlefield Hardline launch figures, combined.
Unfortunately — although perhaps fortunately for Battlefield 1’s committed fanbase — this year’s entry will be the last one we see in a while.
EA CFO, Blake Jorgensen, has said that we won’t get another Battlefield game for a “couple of years”, with a Battlefront entry in 2017 being the publisher’s big new shooter.
Speaking at the Nasdaq 35th Investor Program (via Video Gamer), Jorgensen said that next year’s Battlefront will be “much bigger” and “much more exciting” than the 2015 entry, which was a reboot of the famed Star Wars: Battlefront series from the ’00s.
“We were very excited about how Star Wars [Battlefront] came out last year,” he said. “It’s a beautiful game, people loved it. I think if there was criticism they just wanted more. And so we’re taking that criticism to heart as we build the next game and trying to address any of the issues that they had. “
He also promised that the new Battlefront will “leverage more of that content from the new movies”, something last year’s game couldn’t do due to being released before the new Star Wars films. Pending a new Battlefront arrives in 2017, it will have The Force Awakens and the upcoming Rogue One to turn to for material.
“There seems to be no waning in the excitement around the Star Wars world,” he continued. “We’ve got another movie coming up obviously in a few weeks and people are very excited about it, and so we’re looking forward to bringing to the table next year a much bigger, much more exciting Battlefront for consumers.”
The next Battlefront is expected to launch in 2017.
To be honest, this is probably a good move for EA, particularly with the mistakes it has made with Titanfall, and the waning interest in Call Of Duty. The latter has seen annual entries dating back to 2007, and while it appears to only now be slowing down, there interest simply isn’t as high as it used to be.
As for Titanfall, this year’s entry has struggled to make much noise, despite free DLC and critical acclaim. It was released a week after Battlefield 1, and a week before Call Of Duty: Infinite Warfare, which also offered Modern Warfare Remastered.
Bringing Star Wars Battlefront 2 to gamers in 2017 without something to eat into sales would be ideal for EA, and it would allow it to compete on its own. I’m sure the publisher regrets not having allowed Titanfall 2 to battle it out in early 2017.
Further, while Battlefront was a great game, it was severely lacking on the content front, and felt more like a tech demo. Recent DLC has changed that, but it’s hard to return to a game with a splinted community. Hopefully the publisher has learned a lesson or two from that scenario, and will invest in a more streamlined — and free — DLC plan, as it has with Titanfall 2.
