2025 is set to be a megaton year for new game releases and publishers are feeling the pressure. Most recently, EA has said it wouldn't be opposed to delaying Battlefield 6 if there's not an "appropriate" time for the game to launch amid so much competition.
The tidbit comes from the publisher's most recent Q&A call following its latest fiscal report where EA CEO Andrew Wilson was asked about how an unusually busy year could affect the shooter. EA just said it plans to launch the next Battlefield before April 2026, but that's apparently not set in stone.
"I do believe that this year might be a nuanced year relative to competition," Wilson explained, probably referring to mammoth upcoming games like GTA 6, Borderlands 4, Fable, and Doom: The Dark Ages, which are all slated to launch during EA's upcoming fiscal year. "There may be some things happening in the year that may cause us to think differently about our launch timing. We have [a fiscal year 2026] launch window that the team is targeting. We believe the game will be great and ready at that time. But if we got close to that time frame and believe that this wasn't going to be a great window for us, then we would take a look at what an alternate window might be that would give us the appropriate time, energy and player acquisition opportunity for this Battlefield to be all that it needed to be."
GTA 6 alone is going to act as a black hole in the industry, sucking up an unbelievable amount of player time, attention, and money - so any other new online games will probably want some breathing room away from Rockstar Games' next goliath. Though, EA still seems very confident about what it's cooking up.
"We've invested more in this Battlefield than any Battlefield before," Wilson said. "We have four studios. We've had a meaningful amount of time. We're looking for this to be the biggest Battlefield we've ever made, and we, of course, want to make sure that we launch that into a window where we can deliver on the full promise of what Battlefield can be, and grow the community to a level that is commensurate with the size of the game that we're making."
EA's isn't alone in feeling a little trepidatious, however. Last year, Xbox said it hadn't announced many firm release dates for its biggest games because, of course, the elephant in the room was that no one wants to go up against GTA.
EA isn’t exaggerating, either - check out our Big in 2025 list to see the 50 most anticipated games of the year.
