EA CEO says the company is rethinking Battlefield ‘from the ground up’

EA DICE is the manufacturer of Battlefield 2042, is “rethinking the development process from the ground up,” according to Electronic Arts’ chief executive. After a disappointing November launch and a string of delays in live content delivery, the company has begun to reconsider its flagship shooter series.

“They’re using the kind of Vince Zampella/Respawn model of ‘Get to the fun as quickly as possible,’” Wilson told investors during Tuesday afternoon’s quarterly earnings call. Wilson was referencing the founder of Respawn Entertainment, maker of EA’s wildly successful Apex Legends Battle royale

In December, Electronic Arts assigned Zampella — who also founded Infinity Ward, the studio behind the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare sub-series for Activision — to oversee the Battlefield franchise. Battlefield 2042The multiplayer version of the shooter franchise, called, was released over the holiday season on PlayStation 3, Xbox, and PC.

Battlefield 2042’s launch was immediately followed by a damage-control memo from EA DICE, a launch-day title update to correct performance issues seen in the game’s early access, and multiple patches immediately after release. Battlefield 2042’s Metacritic scores, on console, are the lowest in the series’ history, and the PC version’s score is second-lowest, ahead of 2015’s Battlefield HardlineVisceral Games made this.

“They’ve been doing thousands of updates for the community, working on quality of life, and really getting the core game right,” Wilson said on Tuesday’s call. “I think there’s still more work for us to do there. […] Once we get to a place where we feel like we’re in the right place with the core experience, and with the core game, then you should expect us to invest and grow beyond where the game is at today.”

EA DICE announced in February that the first season of multiplayer progress and unlockable content will be delayed until sometime during this summer. Battlefield 2042 In November, the launch was announced with four seasons and associated battle passes promising tiered unlocks like four new characters and maps. Battlefield 2042 In-game voice chat was finally available in April, with a scoreboard by March.

Wilson was also asked about by investors. Battlefield Mobile, EA has announced the Android and iOS versions of their game on April 22. This is being created by Industrial Toys (the mobile studio EA purchased in 2018).

“Right now, I think we were looking at going into further testing at the end of May,” Wilson told investors, “and then, subject to the metrics and the data that we’ve seen, we might look towards the end of this year, beginning of next year, for global launch. […] We want to give ourselves the opportunity to ensure that the game has all the soft launch and closed beta that it needs in order to ensure the balance.”