In the publisher’s most recent quarterly earnings call, EA CEO Andrew Wilson revealed the current status of Battlefield Mobile. Wilson confirmed that he expects EA to drop the portable shooter before the year ends. Furthermore, Wilson claims that the publisher is “looking at going into further testing at the end of May” and if things go well, Battlefield Mobile could hit the market by the “end of this year” or “the beginning of next year.” As Wilson explains, everything “comes down to the tuning and the balance” once the studio moves on into the closed beta phase.
But, while Wilson is optimistic that Battlefield Mobile’s arrival is huge for Electronic Arts, the development team is not in any hurry. Wilson says that he wants to give Battlefield Mobile “all the soft launch and closed beta that it needs in order to tune and balance.” EA first revealed Battlefield 2042 in April 2021, but we haven’t heard much about the game since. The good news is that the most recent development suggests that Battlefield Mobile is on track to come out in 2022. Even if it doesn’t meet its tentative release date of 2022, it’s still nice to know that EA is learning from its mistakes. Battlefield 2042 has been nothing short of a disappointment, but Battlefield Mobile has a shot at redeeming EA’s botched reputation. Even though the “standalone game” that is “designed specifically for the mobile platform” will come with the usual EA monetization slate such as battle pass, unlockables, and collectible cosmetics, the way that Wilson is describing it suggests that EA wants to make sure that it’s more than just a good game. Speaking of Battlefield 2042, Wilson reaffirmed in the same earnings call that it’s rethinking the way it will handle the shooter. However, how little Wilson talked about Battlefield 2042 speaks volumes about EA’s true thoughts about the shooter. Before its release, EA talked big about how Battlefield 2042 would expand the Battlefield franchise. Now, Wilson could barely muster more than a sentence about Battlefield 2042. If this isn’t EA’s admission that the game is a total bust, we don’t know what is. Speaking of EA, a PDF presentation from the controversial “money-grabbing” publisher before the aforementioned earnings call let it slip that it’s working on “four secret projects” that will come out in early 2023.
