Rumor: Is EA Planning To Make Annual Battlefield Games?

There’s a new rumor from Michael Pachter which does have someone else that corroborates him. In a way.

CharlieIntel shared this information yesterday:

Industry analyst Michael Patcher claims Battlefield GM told him they plan to have a yearly Battlefield game release, but it’ll probably take 5 years before that happens

“Their goal is 3 studios making Battlefield on a 3-year basis, so they can get to Battlefield annually”

Why Should We Be Skeptical?

Michael Pachter is currently managing director of equity research at Wedbush Securities. He had previously become a popular talking head in the video game industry. He has invariably shared both his opinions and rumors about video games.

Of course, some gamers don’t believe he’s a credible source of information anymore. What you need to understand is Pachter can’t actually leak certain insider information.

Pachter could be sued for sharing that information if he leaked it. This is information that’s a lot more important and compromising than what usually spreads in social media.

This is the reason Pachter recently clarified that he didn’t know if Sony cancelled Fairgame$. In that case, he was only expressing his opinion.

But there’s a reason this Battlefield rumor is credible.

An Earlier Battlefield Rumor Reemerges

Last January, a former dev named Rizible shared rumors about Battlefield 6. He revealed that most of the game’s veteran developers are no longer working on the game. He also alleged EA mismanaged the developers and the franchise in general.

Reddit noticed that Rizible also said this:

The goal is a new BF game every year. I think EA has a roadmap to achieve this, but we wont see the next game in 2026. If Beede sticks to his vision we’ll get:

1. A full priced main game with limited single player

2. Seasons, Battlepass and live service slop

2. A free to play mode like Warzone

Wild and crazy, monetized, cosmetic content is the ultimate goal and they’ll push that towards the player base as fast as they can without generating too much negative sentiment.

Pay for the game every year AND pay for Battlepass AND pay for skins.

What Do We Make Of This?

Rizible corroborates what Pachter said he was told. But Rizible goes further than that. He also describes plans to reshape Battlefield in Call of Duty’s mold.

But one could also argue this will mirror Battlefield with its unexpected new challenger, Delta Force. It’s possible that TenCent is just as much a factor in EA’s new plans for Battlefield as Microsoft is.

And one could also say EA is reacting to an even bigger picture that includes Fortnite, Valorant, etc. From that point of view, EA’s move was inevitable.

But then again, we may yet live to see this proven wrong.