Making video games is hard, especially when you're trying to compete with juggernauts like Call of Duty and Fortnite. But sometimes, it just feels like people are being mismanaged. According to a new report, the upcoming Battlefield game is in a bit of a state, with developers taking exhaustion leave and the project costing EA "well north" of $400 million.
Anonymous EA developers tell Ars Technica that the next game in the Battlefield series, codenamed Glacier, has a 100 million player target. "Obviously, Battlefield has never achieved those numbers before," one EA employee says. "It's important to understand that over about that same period, 2042 has only gotten 22 million," adds another. Battlefield 1 is the most-successful in the series in terms of player count, and that only got to 30 millions. So, expectations are high.
Glacier also has a huge scope to try and get these player numbers. A battle royale mode, six-hour campaign, fan-favorite multiplayer modes like Conquest, and more. All this meant the budget was over $400 million back in 2023, and the current cost is much higher.
"I did not see robust budget, staff plan, feature list, risk planning, et cetera, as we left gate three," says one source. Gate three refers to EA's internal development pipeline system, and means a game is in full production. Two sources say they were left out of meetings after raising concerns about the development process.
According to the report, there are difficulties stemming from the fact four studios are working on this new Battlefield game. DICE, Motive, Criterion, and Ripple Effect. It's a big change from when DICE was the primary developer and others just supported it – now the Swedish company has to answer to American bosses and cultural issues also abound.
All of these issues mean core deadlines are being missed, and we may end up with a huge day one patch or promised features and modes being pushed back into later seasons. The campaign mode is doing worst of all.
"They might have to cut a part of the single-player out in order for the game to release with a single-player," one employee says. They predict staff will have to work through the summer to make that happen, which leads to another big problem: burnout.
"There's like—I would hesitate to count—but a large number [of staff] compared to other projects I've been on who have taken mental exhaustion leave here," says one staffer who has taken this kind of leave themselves. "Some as short as two weeks to a month, some as long as eight months and nine."
The more globalized structure of the studios compounds this issue, as one employee says, "My day could start as early as 5:00 [am]." Throughout the day, they'd have meetings with studios around the world, "Then my evenings would be spent doing my work because I'd be tied up juggling things all across the board and across time zones."
Hopefully the developers can get their well-earned rest soon. People playing Battlefield Labs seem fairly happy with what's on offer, and I'm excited after seeing how much it feels like Bad Company 2, so it looks like development is going in the right direction.
While we await whatever gets launched, check out all the confirmed upcoming games.
