Having been poised as Electronic Art’s answer to Activision’s Call of Duty ever since the former acquired the franchise, Battlefield may start to imitate its more lucrative cousin in more than just gameplay themes. Mike Hickey, partner at Janco Partners, thinks that a yearly release schedule for the series is the only way to stay competitive against the juggernaut CoD.
“We suspect [EA] could release a Battlefield franchise game annually, switching between Battlefield and Bad Company versions, similar to how Activision manages their Call of Duty franchise,” Hickey theorized.
Electronic Arts could not be reached for comment on this issue, and has neither confirmed nor denied the statement.
Think Battlefield could survive a 1 game/year release schedule? Who would you want to see become the franchise’s “second studio”? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section!
I hope not. With yearly releases you don’t really get all you can out of the multiplayer. Also, it will create series fatigue and genre fatigue.
I would rather EA create some new IPs or work on improving some older franchises.