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Battlefield V’s October launch has been pushed back to November 20, EA has revealed. A knock-on effect of this decision has been a reduction in forecast net bookings by the publisher, resulting in a 10 per cent loss of value on the stock market.
The delay was confirmed in a blog post on EA’s site, with the public-facing message concentrating more on in-game changes leading to a delay. Financial analysts, however, point to Battlefield V’s initial placement between both Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 and Red Dead Redemption 2’s releases as a big reason why the delay occurred.
After the delay was announced, EA’s share price made its way down from a previous close of 128.52 to 115.94 at the end of yesterday’s trading – a fall of 9.79 per cent.
As for the reduction to EA’s net bookings forecast – down to $5.2 billion (£4 billion) from $5.55 billion (£4.3 billion) – this is down to Battlefield’s delay, as well as fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates and a revised mobile forecast.
Away from business-related decisions, the delay will allow DICE to put an extra layer of spit and polish on its shooter, with elements such as ‘adjusting the gameplay tempo, improving soldier visibility and reducing player friction’ all being looked at. Nobody expects any major changes over the course of an additional month, mind.
EA COO and CFO, Blake Jorgensen, said: “We’re updating our fiscal year guidance to reflect the updated launch date for Battlefield V, the ongoing impact of foreign exchange rate changes, and our current outlook for our mobile business. Our core businesses, including FIFA Ultimate Team, are strong, we think our players are going to love Battlefield V, and excitement is building for our new IP, Anthem.”
Battlefield V was recently reported as seeing lower pre-order numbers than expected – though it was still performing better than Titanfall 2.
