As uncertainty surrounding the future of Call of Duty mounts in the wake of Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, EA boss Andrew Wilson senses an opportunity.
The future of Call of Duty may be uncertain, at least as far as platform adoption goes. Microsoft has only recently assured that they have no interest in removing Call of Duty from the Playstation and Sony has already offered that the series will remain on the Playstation for at least three years. But an Xbox exclusive for the series might still become an issue at some point if Microsoft’s takeover of Activision Blizzard is finally waved through by the various antitrust authorities.
So there’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding Call of Duty, and EA boss Andrew Wilson sees it as a huge opportunity for Battlefield. during one Events by Goldman Sachs Wilson mentioned that as a multiplatform game developed for Xbox, PlayStation, and PC, Battlefield might help differentiate it as Call of Duty on console becomes an Xbox-only franchise. Even if that doesn’t happen, the general uncertainty is another benefit for Battlefield, according to Wilson.
However, there would be a lot to do with this, because the current Battlefield 2042 in particular has not exactly covered itself with glory. “I don’t think in the last two iterations of [Battlefield] delivered the way we should have done,” Wilson admitted, not shying away from a Star Wars comparison. Wilson said the Star Wars film series hasn’t always been exceptionally successful, but the franchise as a whole can do with the right one Creative team reinvent and grow over time.
So it seems like Wilson has smelled blood and is ready to fight. However, a lot has to happen for this, because instead of a shark named Battlefield, there is currently a carp swimming in the water at EA…
Curious regarding how Battlefield 2042 gameplay will look from August 30th with the launch of Season 2? The trailer will tell you.