Battlefield is set to make a big return in the marketplace. We know that the next game is in the works, but beyond that, we haven’t had a chance to see it in action or play it much less. But that’s going to change for the better this time around. Well before this next installment launches into the marketplace, fans will have ample time to play and provide feedback for developers.
Still, even with this new move to gather more community feedback, EA CEO Andrew Wilson has alerted investors that he’s aware of fans’ concerns. Thanks to MP1st, we’re learning that Andrew Wilson made this comment during a quarterly earnings report. According to Andrew, he appreciates and understands the trepidation fans have with the game.
Previous installments failed to meet fans’ expectations. So when EA brought this next installment into production, they wanted to overdeliver. Four studios are working on this game and providing not only an excellent multiplayer experience but also a single-player campaign. That’s at least their hope!
Fortunately, they have delivered news of the Battlefield Labs initiative. This is an upcoming series of playtests for fans. From the sound of things, EA hopes to bring out as much testing with franchise fans as possible before the game ships. Ultimately, that should allow the development studios to make the necessary adjustments before dealing with a series of post-launch updates.
I would say the response to the play test and the Battlefield Labs initiative has been overwhelmingly positive and well beyond our expectations, which is great. It’s demonstrative of just the fan love out there for this storage franchise. There’s really two big reasons why our team is taking this approach. The first is, as I think you talk about, there is some trepidation amongst the core community as to what this Battlefield will be. Battlefield is this incredible franchise at unbelievable scale with destruction and vehicles and all kinds of things as much loved in the community.
The last two iterations of Battlefield have not resonated as strongly and have been found wanting by meaningful parts of the community globally. And so we do appreciate and understand that there is some trepidation there. And this development team the biggest development team we’ve ever had is committed to working very closely with our players to ensure that they understand what we’re doing, they feed into the tuning and balancing at scale of this game. – Andrew Wilson
While this might remove some of the surprises developers would have likely kept back for the full launch, it’s at least going to help bring this IP back on track. Currently, Battlefield Labs is taking on applications for select markets. We also understand that more tests and markets will open up later on. But as it stands, we’re still a few weeks out before the first round of tests rolls out. At any rate, if you haven’t viewed the latest video upload highlighting the Battlefield Labs, you can check it out below. Meanwhile, we’re also waiting on a release date. Although, it seems EA is willing to delay the game to avoid launching among stiff competition.
