EA CEO Andrew Wilson witnessed during his tenure at the company battlefield The franchise, mired in a slump that no one knows if it can get out of it, saw an opportunity in the troubled series to claim Call of Duty’s crown.
According to Wilson, that opportunity could become a reality if rival shooter franchise Call of Duty is locked on Xbox.
Wilson, who attended the 2022 Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference, talked about EA’s current portfolio of games, some of the moves it plans to take going forward, and the company’s ambitions in mobile and beyond.
In addition to Apex Legends, FIFA, and all of EA’s other offerings, Wilson also touched on Battlefield, reaffirming the publisher’s commitment to the beleaguered franchise. The CEO, who has excelled in player creation in recent years, claims that Battlefield has the potential for player creation “only in Battlefield moments,” an over-marketed concept that’s increasingly become the focus of many non-battlefield shooters. realm of the game.
“I do think you’ll see us leaning more towards creation,” he said, transcribed by Seeking Alpha. “While The Sims has been creative-based since its launch in 2001, and we’ve only seen creative elements in the Battlefield franchise, and we’ve seen FIFA continue to expand through Creation and Collection and Ultimate Team, we’ll Do more things.
However, Wilson admitted that Battlefield’s last two games fell short of its goals, although he doesn’t think the series has gone too far for a major comeback.
“I don’t think we delivered the way we should have in the last two iterations,” he added, referring to Battlefield.
“We have to do a lot of work there. But at its core, this [is an] Extraordinary IP.What we see in the entertainment world is [that] Great intellectual property is resilient. And we’ve seen movies that fall short of the franchise’s expectations. Star Wars could be one such franchise. Then you can see what happens when you get the right creative team involved, how they reinvent and grow the franchise. “
Wilson explained that EA is trying to do just that: bring in a new creative team to take the series to new heights. The executive was, of course, referring to a major leadership shakeup at developer DICE and a reshuffle of the series lead.
Vince Zampella built Respawn Entertainment into a commercially successful and critically acclaimed gaming powerhouse, and now he’s leading Battlefield. He will oversee DICE in Sweden, Ripple Effect in Los Angeles and, most recently, Ridgeline Games in Seattle.
In addition to how EA is preparing for the future of Battlefield, Wilson also offered an unusual comparison to Call of Duty. Activision-owned leading shooter franchise could become an Xbox exclusive for years to come if Microsoft’s proposed $69 billion acquisition of Activision clears regulatory hurdles.
While the head of Microsoft’s gaming division assured Sony that Call of Duty would live on on the PlayStation for a few more years, Sony didn’t think the offer was enough for PlayStation gamers.
“In a world where there are questions about the future of Call of Duty and which platforms may or may not be live, being platform-agnostic and fully cross-platform with Battlefield, I see this as a huge opportunity,” Wilson said.
