EA: Call of Duty Xbox Exclusivity Being Uncertain is a 'Tremendous Opportunity' for Battlefield - News

by William D'Angelo , posted on 20 September 2022 / 2,820 Views

Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson speaking during an event at Goldman Sachs and reported by Axios journalist Stephen Totilo says the uncertainty of Call of Duty exclusivity on Xbox if Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition is approved is an opportunity for Battlefield.

"In a world where there may be questions over the future of Call of Duty and what platforms that might be on or might not be on, being platform agnostic and completely cross-platform with Battlefield, I think is a tremendous opportunity," said Wilson.

Wilson did admit the previous two Battlefield games launched in a state they should not have.

"I don't think we delivered in the last two iterations of that in the way that we should have," he said.

"There's a lot of work we've got to do there. But at it's very core it's extraordinary IP. And we've seen in the world of entertainment is [that] great IP is resilient. And we've seen movies, you know, 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."

QUOTE: "I don’t think we delivered in the last two iterations of that in the way that we should have."
- EA CEO Andrew Wilson on Battlefield

From a Goldman Sachs conf last week. Full quote below

ALSO: Wilson doesn't seem to mind CoD-Xbox exclusivity confusion. Could help EA! pic.twitter.com/bVtcB6wi6k
— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) September 19, 2022

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.

17 Comments

LudicrousSpeed (on 20 September 2022)

Worry about making a good game first, bitch

Chazore (on 20 September 2022)

That would require you to make a good Battlefield game, EA?.

Not just another Multiplayer only with a premium price, battlepass/MTX bullcrap either.

yvanjean (on 20 September 2022)

Lots of game will benefit from COD not releasing yearly installment.

scrapking yvanjean (on 20 September 2022)

To the degree that other shooters can benefit from this, a great many of them are owned by Microsoft (Halo, Gears, Doom, Quake, Prey, Perfect Dark, etc.).

Darwinianevolution (on 20 September 2022)

Oh, sure, CoD being exclusive gives multiplat FPSs a lot of oportunities... provided that the games are actually good.

V-r0cK (on 20 September 2022)

This is what I've been saying as well. EA finally has a chance to step up and take over. I'm hoping that a lot of 3rd party FPS devs and Sony step up their FPS games so hard that will make CoD not as significant anymore.

Also EA now would be a good time to revive Black please!

scrapking V-r0cK (on 20 September 2022)

And while they're reviving Black, why not revive Medal of Honor as well?! Rotate through these franchises, rather than going back to the Battlefield well every time.

V-r0cK scrapking (on 21 September 2022)

Agree! EA can do wonders if they actually try.

DonFerrari scrapking (on 26 September 2022)

franchise rotation should be an obvious endeavor, but often ignored to try and repeat the best selling games.

KrspaceT (on 20 September 2022)

While it is true that a market gap is useful, you need to make it worth it. You aren't the only shooter game in town, and this opportunity is also there for others.

Giggity_goo (on 21 September 2022)

bring back proper campaigns war stories was okay but it was more like playing demos, end just as start getting into it

DonFerrari (on 26 September 2022)

For the opportunity that is obvious. For the 2 games being subpar why did they release like that then?

Manlytears (on 20 September 2022)

Not only Battlefield, but any FPS can see this as a huge opportunity!
CoD will, likely, leave playstation, and this will make a major "hole" in playstation options for FPS. This a problem for Sony, and may turn Xbox in the Nº1 console in the market, or... Someone can just fill that hole, take CoD place as the most popular FPS and generate a gigantic reverse against Xbox.

Making CoD exclusive is a sword with 2 edges. Atm, MS side looks like a sharp blade next to playstation throat, but it can end up causing more damage to CoD market place.
Only time will tell the results of exclusivity, but it can, for certain, be one of the greatests "shoot yourself in the foot" in this industry, or perhaps the turn point for Xbox becoming market leader.