Battlefield might be heading toward an annual release schedule, according to a recent claim from industry analyst Michael Patcher. He says Byron Beede, the General Manager of the franchise, told him that EA aims to have three studios working on Battlefield on a three-year rotation, enabling yearly game launches.
That sounds just like Call of Duty’s approach, right? But Patcher points out that this change is still 5-6 years away from happening back-to-back. So, don’t expect Battlefield to start showing up every year just yet.
Honestly, I’m kinda skeptical. Battlefield 6 is being developed by four studios, DICE, Motive, Ripple Effect, and Criterion, and it looks like it’s on track to be a hit. But I worry that pushing for yearly releases could hurt the franchise’s quality big time.
Could Battlefield pull off a new experience every year? Maybe, but I doubt it would be a fully-fledged game each time. And what exactly a “new experience” would look like after a Battle Royale mode is anyone’s guess. Maybe we’ll finally get that dinosaur mode everyone’s joked about for years.