So, What’s This Opportunity for EA and Battlefield?
More specifically, Microsoft could potentially make the Call of Duty franchise a standalone Xbox exclusive eliminating Sony out of the equation. This would mean that cross–play would become a thing of the past for future Call of Duty games, which would certainly be a backward move on Xbox’s part. This doesn’t seem likely but that certainly seems to be the argument put forward by Sony as a means to hinder the acquisition, accusing Microsoft of being anti-competitive, but we don’t know to what extent these accusations could be deemed true. In Microsoft’s defense, the company has insisted that they won’t be making this exclusivity move, at least not anytime soon. While Sony insists that the on-paper assurances and guarantees fall pretty short of Microsoft’s public gestures and representations, Microsoft claims that they’ve made a pretty good deal for Sony, considering they’ve restructured their prior agreement with Activision and added an extra three years in the mix. Microsoft is currently attempting to acquire Activision Blizzard and all of its franchises, which also includes Call of Duty. Should the deal be approved, Microsoft has pledged to keep Call of Duty on the PlayStation and most probably, bring it to the Nintendo Switch for many years to come. But PlayStation’s Jim Ryan claims that Microsoft’s deal to keep Call of Duty on the PlayStation beyond their deal with Activision is “inadequate on many levels”. But Microsoft CEO, Phil Spencer claims that Microsft’s offer to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation goes well beyond typical gaming industry agreements. He added with the fact that future Call of Duty releases on PlayStation will have feature and content parity with their Xbox versions as well.
Electronic Art’s CEO, Andrew Wilson Speaks on Battlefield’s Future
Amidst all the hubbub and back and forth, there’s one person who doesn’t really care what happens to the future of the Microsoft and Activision Blizzard merger and how it would affect Sony. He’s just sitting back and relaxing as this merger unfolds and waits for the day Call of Duty finally becomes an Xbox exclusive because this would all be good news for Electronic Arts CEO, Andrew Wilson, and the future of the Battlefield franchise. The CEO made the news public information as he stepped forward to claim that the possibility of Call of Duty becoming an Xbox exclusive is practically great news for their Battlefield series. As for the latest developments in the Battlefield franchise, Battlefield 2042 has fallen quite short of the hopes of fans, critics, and EA themselves. The company and development team are still working day and night to iron out the kinks from the game to provide a better user experience across the board. Still, EA has acknowledged that Battlefield 2042 has fallen short of the expectations of the gaming industry and the Battlefield community and that the IP has been struggling in recent years. But that might just change once the merger goes through. Andrew Wilson does have a way with words claiming that all they need is a great creative team, some resilience in the mix is the best possible way of making the IP great once again. But resilience is a lot easier to pull off or merely portray in this scenario when your biggest and closest competitor is practically tripping over their own feet. Wilson sees a big potential opening for the Battlefield franchise amidst all the bickering and tomfoolery surrounding what might become of the future of Call of Duty. We’ve seen movies not live up to the expectations of franchises. Star Wars might be one such franchise. And then you can see what happens when you get the right creative team involved, how they can completely reinvent and grow a franchise. And I think we have an extraordinary creative team involved in Battlefield now who have unbelievable ambitions to own the first-person shooter space. – Andrew Wilson, CEO of Electronic Arts Andrew Wilson openly admitted that the Microsoft Blizzard Activision merger could potentially help the Battlefield franchise perform well in the future. He considered it a big opportunity for the Battlefield franchise moving forward. EA can capitalize off of this only if they provide better core gameplay and user experience with the next iteration of the Battlefield franchise, regardless of whether Call of Duty remains cross-platform or becomes an Xbox exclusive. But then again, opportunity doesn’t amount to much if you’re not really in the position to capitalize on it. Still, EA has made quite the big moves recently in order to expand its commitment to the Battlefield series as a whole. The original developer DICE is working hard to improve the multiplayer aspect of the game, while the new studio Ridgeline is set to develop a brand-new campaign mode set in the Battlefield Universe and separated from Battlefield 2042. What’s all the more interesting is that this multiplayer component will be under the leadership of Halo’s co-creator, Marcus Lehto. Strong-arming the Battlefield franchise, Ripple Studios, formerly known as DICE LA, is also partaking in the effort to provide gamers with an entirely new Battlefield experience that is set to complement and build upon the series’ foundation. Another Halo veteran, Alex Seropian, is developing a Battlefield Mobile game via his Industrial Toys Studio, so the future seems to be steady for the Battlefield franchise. But Call of Duty isn’t ready to be blindsided by EA or the Battlefield series anytime soon and is ardently focused on their own video games and projects as we speak. Call of Duty showcased their Call of Duty Next event a few days ago where some key announcements were brought to light. Call of Duty Warzone 2.0 was announced as the next installment to 2020’s hit Warzone Battle Royale Shooter. Players will get to engage in firefights on an all-new map called Al Mazrah. The game has been scheduled to release along with Modern Warfare 2’s First Season starting November 16, 2022. But before that happens, Call of Duty’s newest and latest addition to their remake series is turning heads with Modern Warfare 2 set for an October 28, 2022, release date, bringing back an overhauled iteration of its beloved third-person mode featured back in 2009. Still, there’s more as a mobile iteration of Warzone, Warzone Mobile is in the works with pre-registrations now open for Android Devices. While the introduction of a story campaign into a new Battlefield game would certainly be a positive step for EA in rebuilding its reputation and shooter franchise, many believe that more work needs to be done before Battlefield can be seen as a competitor of Call of Duty once again. Battlefield 2042 is now available on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X and S, Xbox One, and PC. Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2.0 will release on October 28, 2022, and November 16, 2022, respectively for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X and S, Xbox One, and PC. So what do you think of all these charades and fiascos of gaming companies trying to one-up each other? Do you think the Battlefield franchise will capitalize on this supposed opportunity? Will EA’s moves affect Call of Duty’s market share in any form whatsoever? Let us know in the comments below. We upload daily on Appuals, so stay tuned for more. Till then, see you later and goodbye.
