Update: EA has confirmed that Battlefield 6 will be launching on PS4 and Xbox One alongside their current-gen counterparts, shutting down recent rumors to the contrary.
While EA and Dice have made some noise about the next Battlefield taking full advantage of current-gen hardware, even telling GameSpot this month that it targets "new innovation that will be enabled by next-gen platforms," the publisher has confirmed Battlefield 6 to be a cross-gen release.
EA CEO Andrew Wilson revealed as much during EA's earnings call on Tuesday, where CFO Blake Jorgensen added that Battlefield 6 will be "great on either console," while noting that the next-gen version will feel "special."
This will likely come as a disappointment to some folks with new PlayStations and Xboxes, but for the masses still checking for PS5 stock updates and Xbox Series X stock updates, this simply means they won't need to wait any longer than necessary to play the next Battlefield game.
If you’re still gaming on your PS4 or Xbox One, then you might want to think about upgrading if you want to play Battlefield 6 when it releases later this year. This is according to leaker Tom Henderson, who has previously leaked information about the slightly futuristic setting of Battlefield 6 and that GTA 6 will be sticking to the modern day.
In other news, I still have yet to hear anything concrete that #BATTLEFIELD will come to past gen consoles. Theory - It indicates to me that it probably won't and the biggest reason #BATTLEFIELD will come to the Xbox Game Pass on day 1 is to boost up player numbers.April 15, 2021
We don’t have concrete confirmation that Battlefield 6 isn’t coming to previous-gen consoles though, but Henderson states that he hasn’t heard anything about them yet, and with the game releasing later this year, no news is probably bad news.
Henderson goes on to speculate that this could be the primary driving force behind the rumors that Battlefield 6 will be launching into Xbox Game Pass, as this would significantly boost the day one player count, which would offset the loss of players from previous-gen consoles.
This is just conjecture on Henderson’s part, but it makes sense from EA’s perspective. Whether or not Microsoft would want to pay out for a Game Pass game that only Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S players can play though, is another thing. It could drive sales for the new consoles, but at the risk of annoying the previous-gen player base.
These rumors do line up with previous statements made by both DICE and EA though. When the first hints at Battlefield 6 started dropping last year, DICE made a statement to Gamespot confirming that the next Battlefield game was in the works, stating that it was "targeting new innovation that will be enabled by next-gen platforms".
If you’re looking forward to Battlefield 6 and still need to upgrade to a new-gen console then we’ve got you covered. Check out our Xbox Series X stock updates and PS5 stock updates for the best shot at grabbing one of the new consoles.
