Games

Battlefield may prosper if Call of Duty leaves PS5/PS4, claims EA CEO

Battlefield may prosper if Call of Duty leaves PS5/PS4, claims EA CEO

Although Microsoft has publically stated that Call of Duty will remain on PlayStation consoles for “several more years” beyond the current marketing arrangement with Activision Blizzard, it’s clear there are big issues still. After all, you don’t get PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan releasing statements calling the deal “inadequate on many levels” if everything is above board.

But amidst all this prickly back and forth between Sony and Microsoft, Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson has popped his head above the parapet to voice his optimism over the lingering confusion; especially with regards to how it might benefit EA’s own Battlefield series.

“In a world where there may be questions over the future of Call of Duty and what platforms that might be on or might not be on, being platform agnostic and completely cross-platform with Battlefield, I think is a tremendous opportunity,” Wilson said during a recent Goldman Sachs event, as reported by Seeking Alpha (Via PushSquare).

The assumption is presumably that should Call of Duty leave PlayStation platforms, it would create a massive void for EA and Battlefield to presumably try and exploit.

In truth, the Battlefield series also needs to overcome its own hang-ups before it can think about becoming the dominant AAA shooter on PlayStation platforms. Speaking candidly, Wilson also admitted during the Goldman Sachs event that the previous two Battlefield releases have failed to meet internal expectations.

“I don’t think we delivered in the last two iterations of [Battlefield] in the way that we should have,” Wilson said before admitting the series has “a lot of work” to do.

The news comes hot on the heels of Vince Zampella – the Respawn co-founder who is now also overseeing the Battlefield franchise – delivering a brutal assessment of the series’ latest release, Battlefield 2042.

“I think they just strayed a little too far from what Battlefield is,” Zampella suggested in an interview with Barrons (transcribed by VGC).

“They tried to do a couple of things that were maybe ambitious: grow the player count etc. I don’t think they spent enough time iterating on what makes that fun.”

“It’s not inherently a bad idea” Zampella continued, “[But] the way they were set up and the way they executed just didn’t allow them to find the best thing possible.”

Supposedly a new Battlefield game is already in development (according to renowned leaker Tom Henderson) and who knows, maybe it could take advantage given the uncertainty surrounding Call of Duty.