EA’s latest Battlefield 4 release has already made quite a name for itself, since the day it was first announced and displayed until it was finally released this year with its various problems and bugs. However, what if we ask you to forget about the latest game for a while and focus on the future? If you are willing, there’s lot to ponder, since it has been reported that the next Battlefield title (probably Battlefield 5) is under development at Visceral.
Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter was recently in an interview with Eurogamer, where he first revealed that the game was probably under development by Criterion Games, only to later correct himself by replacing Criterion with Visceral Games.
In a recent note issued to press, Pachter, while responding to a report that Battlefield 5 would be delayed by developer DICE outside of EA's 2015 financial year (ending March 31, 2015), Pachter indeed mentioned the fact that a new spin-off to the Battlefield is already under development.
"We believe this speculation is unfounded," Pachter stated. “Although EA has as yet to announce a Battlefield extension for FY15, we believe Criterion Games is working on a military shooter that may become a brand extension for the Battlefield franchise in FY15."
As far as further proof to what Pachter claimed is concerned, he added: “We spoke with management on Thursday afternoon, and although they have not yet announced a version of Battlefield for FY15, they confirmed that our understanding is spot on and that if a version of Battlefield were to be released in FY15, it would be developed by a studio other than DICE.”
However, Pachter later told Eurogamer that he now believes that it is Dead Space developer Visceral who has undertaken the responsibility of developing the new shooter, although Visceral's only announced project post-Dead Space 3 still officially remains to be an untitled Star Wars game.
On a similar note, those of you Battlefield fanboys skipped a heartbeat when you read that there is a chance of a delay to the new Battlefield game following the current game, it’s so the developer can rid the game of all kinds of problems.
EA issued a statement on the matter, reading: “First, we want to thank the fans out there that are playing and supporting us with Battlefield 4. We know we still have a ways to go with fixing the game — it is absolutely our No. 1 priority. The team at DICE is working non-stop to update the game.”
“Since Battlefield 4 China Rising expansion pack was already in the final stages of development by the time issues began with Battlefield 4, we decided to fulfill our promise to deliver it this week, but we're not moving onto future projects or expansions until we sort out all the issues with Battlefield 4. We know many of our players are frustrated, and we feel their pain. We will not stop until this is right.”
However, heading back to the main topic at hand, we are guessing it will be a win-win situation for fans irrespective of who ends up developing the game, as long as it means there won't be a delay.
But for the sake of comparison, we here are hoping that it’s indeed Visceral since all these bugs and glitches brought by DICE is a major pain.