From the outside, the vibes around Battlefield 6 (yet to be officially titled) are pretty good. Spurred by a creative direction that's essentially "let's do Battlefield 3 and 4 again," folks are liking what they're seeing from those playtests that keep leaking onto Reddit.
From the inside, Battlefield 6 development could be going better. As detailed in a report published today at Ars Technica, EA's grand multi-studio strategy for the future of Battlefield has proven more chaotic than harmonious.
Battlefield 6's budget has reportedly ballooned past $400 million, its campaign is far behind multiplayer, major features are undecided as the project enters alpha, and EA suits are setting sky-high expectations that its own developers don't see as even remotely realistic.
100 million: That's the player count target EA established for Battlefield 6 "over a set period of time that included post-launch," according to Ars Technica. It's an ambitious (to put it mildly) target for a series that's always enjoyed a niche appeal compared to Call of Duty, and whose mainstream importance has shrunk in recent years.
"Obviously, Battlefield has never achieved those numbers before," an EA employee told Ars. "It's important to understand that over about that same period, 2042 has only gotten 22 million." Even at the peak of the series' powers with Battlefield 1, as the employee notes, it achieved "maybe 30 million plus."
EA hopes a free-to-play battle royale mode, which Ars Technica calls a "core offering" of Battlefield 6, will help bridge the audience gap. We've heard rumblings of a battle royale mode through playtest leaks, but this Call of Duty: Warzone-like approach of giving away battle royale while charging for a "traditional" Battlefield experience is news.
It's a nice thought, but entrenched developers aren't convinced EA has its head screwed on straight. According to Ars Technica's sources, including numerous developers at DICE itself, "very few people" believe the 100 million target is realistic.
"Among the things that we are predicting is that we won't have to cannibalize anyone else's sales," an Ars Technica source said. "That there's just such an appetite out there for shooters of this kind that we will just naturally be able to get the audience that we need."
The full Ars Technica report, worth a thorough read, goes into detail on Battlefield 6's other struggles, including employee burnout and a six-hour campaign that's been behind schedule ever since EA shuttered Ridgeline, the studio it opened specifically to make Battlefield campaigns, last year. As you might guess, there's also tension between DICE (Battlefield's creators) and the Vince Zampella-led franchise leadership installed by EA in Los Angeles.
