Electronic Arts has gone all in on Battlefield 6 (not the confirmed title), assembling a crack squad of several hundred developers across multiple studios. The franchise has been sitting firmly in the gutter for several years, but the consensus is that if the next game is done right, it’ll serve up a long-needed revitalisation of the series.
In a recent report, it was claimed that the EA leadership team is firmly banking on that happening. In a somewhat shocking (and perhaps a little delusional) revelation, it has been suggested that the eventual ‘user target’ for Battlefield 6 sits at 100 million users.
As of 2022, the entire franchise hadn’t managed to sell 100 million copies.
Never Before Seen
In a lengthy report compiled by Ars Technica based off insider claims, it was mentioned that Battlefield 6, otherwise known as ‘Project Glacier’, is looking to go big when it’s released, potentially before April 2026.
It was stressed that the Electronic Arts leadership team envisions a player count of 100 million users, rivalling Call of Duty and Fortnite, and the free-to-play battle royale portion of the game is where they anticipate most users to gravitate to.
In the Ars Technica write-up, it was claimed that an EA employee said:
Obviously, Battlefield has never achieved those numbers before. It’s important to understand that over about that same period, 2042 has only gotten 22 million.
It was mentioned that another EA employee stressed that Battlefield 1, the best-selling title in the series, secured ‘maybe 30 million plus’.
The Ars Technica report also mentions that this is the most expensive Battlefield game ever created, with a budget sitting at almost half a billion dollars in 2023. It’s the heftiest undertaking the franchise has ever seen, but is that enough to fill players with hope that it’ll be the best Battlefield game ever?
Further down the report, it was said that ‘very few people’ working at Electronic Arts believe the ambitious goal is achievable. That’s a sentiment shared even amongst those serving for the longest time at DICE:
Among the things that we are predicting is that we won’t have to cannibalize anyone else’s sales. That there’s just such an appetite out there for shooters of this kind that we will just naturally be able to get the audience that we need.
Despite the positivity, it was said that there’s ‘nothing in the market research or our quality deliverables indicates that we would be anywhere near that.’
Do you think Battlefield 6 can hit 100 million players? Let me know what you’re thinking on the Insider Gaming forum.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that COD WW2 is being hit by RCE exploits
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
More from Grant Taylor-Hill
Not happening so when it doesn’t do they drop the IP?