EA’s next Battlefield title will be developed by the ‘largest team in franchise history’

This week, EA released its latest financial statements in the quarterly earnings call, during which CEO Andrew Wilson stated that the next Battlefield title will be developed by the “largest team in franchise history.”

Wilson seemed to acknowledge the lukewarm reception of Battlefield 2042 when he said “Players have made it clear that they wanted an even deeper experience,” as per the Yahoo transcript of the call.

He also reaffirmed the company’s commitment to live service models, after a survey earlier this year revealed that 70% of surveyed developers are concerned about the sustainability of live service games.

There will be a “connected” single-player mode for the next Battlefield game, but Wilson did not elaborate on what this would entail.

Earlier this year, EA canceled a planned single-player Star Wars game being developed by Respawn Entertainment amidst a round of 670 layoffs. They also announced a planned increase in price for their subscription service EA Play.

What about The Sims franchise?

One of EA’s largest franchises is The Sims, currently headlined by The Sims 4. According to Wilson, the life simulation series is set to receive 12 new content packs over the next year. The Sims 4 isn’t a traditional live service game with a subscription, but with 79 expansions, game packs, kits, and various other paid add-ons, it operates like one, raking in profits.

Wilson stated that alongside the 12 planned releases, EA’s Sims 4 team is also “working on multiple experiences in the Sims universe to leverage user-generated content to deepen our community and expand our audience.[…]

“The passion for Sims Community remains strong as the franchise powers towards its 25th anniversary. Since its launch in 2014, the Sims 4 has surpassed 85 million players with FY 2024 up double-digits year-over-year. The Sims Online and the Sims Mobile combined have been downloaded over 500 million times. This is already one of the largest communities in the world and we believe this hugely successful franchise has the potential to become one of the largest creator platforms in entertainment.”

Featured image credit: EA