Electronic Arts quietly notannounced a brand new Battlefield sport throughout their convention name final evening, alongside notdelaying BioWare’s Anthem. They stated little or no about it, as a result of they acknowledge its existence however haven’t formally introduced it, see. Will it’s set prior to now, near-past, current, near-future, or future? Battlefield 5? Bad Company three? Hardline 2? 1944? 2143? Hut hut! It’s all a giant thriller for now. Assuming EA observe their conventional Battlefield behaviour, they’ll possible formally announce the sport in May or June then launch it in mid-to-late October.
“Our Dice studio will deliver the next Battlefield, with innovation at every level, incredible stories at the core, astonishing visuals and gameplay that will captivate every Battlefield fan,” CEO Andrew Wilson stated throughout final evening’s earnings convention name for buyers. Dice. Captivating. Gotcha.
EA say that this new Battlefield is why they’re delaying Anthem to early 2019, as a result of it didn’t appear wise to launch the 2 alongside one another. Wait, sorry – they didn’t say they’re delaying Anthem. EA made clear that Anthem isn’t delayed, it’s… simply launching later than beforehand deliberate. Not a delay.
The rumour mill has stated the following Battlefield would return to World War 2, although don’t consider the whole lot Ian Video Games tells you. Not that EA have instructed us something both. But we will make some guesses primarily based on what the EA fellas stated throughout the decision. They muttered about esports and Battlefield, for starters, in order that’s one thing we must always count on extra of a push on.
“BUT WHAT ABOUT LOOT CRATES ALICE?” you scream.
Well! Following the stinking mess of Star Wars Battlefront 2’s loot crate monetisation, it’s no shock that the topics of monetisation and dwell providers and all that got here up a good bit throughout the decision, each in EA’s ready remarks and in questions from analysts. Obviously they didn’t speak about particular plans for this Battlefield sport they’ve not introduced but–they nonetheless haven’t even stated what they’ll do once they ultimately return microtransactions to Battlefront 2–however they did speak about broader philosophies.
Wilson stated that that with video games like Battlefield and Battlefront, “premium content after launch is valued by the community, but only where we can offer it in a world where we don’t bifurcate the community.” He talked a few have to tailor monetisation and content material additions to every sport however did say that, throughout all EA video games and dwell providers, “at the very centre of everything we want to offer is choice, player choice, in a world that keeps communities together.”
While Battlefront 2 provides new maps, modes, weapons, characters, and bits in free updates and hoped gamers will splurge money to skip the unlock grind, Battlefield video games have been extra easy and direct with paid expansions. However, expansions break up communities and, given Wilson’s remarks, I wouldn’t be shocked if Battlefield switches to a different type of post-launch monetisation on this or another future sport.
“BUT WHAT ABOUT BATTLE ROYALE ALICE?” you wail. “EVERYTHING IS BATTLE ROYALE NOW.”
Battlefield 5/2018/BC3/1943/2143/5748/58439543 might be not one other Plunker, to place your thoughts comfy. One listener did ask about Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds, and Wilson did praise it, saying it “delivered a new level of innovation that changed the way people were playing first-person shooter games.” But it feels like EA are pondering extra about shaking up their very own sport relatively than copying another person’s.
“It’s clearly a mode of play that the global FPS population are interested in, and given that we have some of the best shooters in the marketplace, you might expect that we’re also thinking about new and innovative ways to play. And that doesn’t mean just [Plunkbat] replicas inside of the Battlefield universe but it does mean that our Battlefield teams […] are looking at how they innovate in every aspect of the game, including core gameplay and map design.”
You know, my mind kicked and screamed after I began pouring this moneytalk and numbermash into my ears this morning, however now it’s settled properly and I feel I do need a portfolio. I do need an ROI on my IP within the IPO this FY. I do need to develop into a choice-centred dwell service. I do need a pair of purple trousers.
