EA Boss Willing to Move Battlefield Release Date to Account for 'Nuanced Year Relative to Competition' (*Cough* GTA 6 *Cough*)

2025 is shaping up to be a monumental year for triple-A video games. Not only are we eagerly anticipating the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 and its exclusive titles, but we’re also looking forward to a slew of major releases later in the year, including Borderlands 4, Mafia: The Old Country, and Ghost of Yōtei. And let's not forget the annual tradition of a new Call of Duty title from Activision, likely slated for an October or November release.

However, the game that's poised to dominate the headlines is undoubtedly Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto 6, scheduled for a fall 2025 release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S. While Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar’s parent company, has so far maintained the fall 2025 release window, the possibility of delays looms large. This uncertainty, combined with the onslaught of other major titles, puts EA’s upcoming Battlefield release in a challenging position.

EA has penciled in the next Battlefield for its 2026 fiscal year, which means a launch before April 2026. This timing puts it squarely in the shadow of GTA 6, and potentially in competition with Call of Duty and Borderlands 4. So, how crucial are the release dates of competing games when EA decides when to launch Battlefield?

According to EA CEO Andrew Wilson, quite crucial indeed. During a recent financial call, Wilson acknowledged the competitive landscape and hinted at the possibility of delaying Battlefield if necessary.

"Certainly, we exist in a competitive marketplace," Wilson stated in response to an analyst's question on the topic. "I've had the great fortune to be with this company for 25 years, and we have done a great job of competing with all of our great franchises over time."

He went on to emphasize the significant investment in the new Battlefield, involving four studios and substantial development 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 fullness of the 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."

Wilson acknowledged that 2025 might require a nuanced approach due to the competition. "There may be some things happening in the year that may cause us to think differently about our launch timing. We have an FY 26 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 timeframe and believed 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."

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As it stands, the new Battlefield is slated for release before April 2026. If we speculate a November 2025 launch, similar to Battlefield 2042 and Battlefield 5, what happens if GTA 6 also launches around that time? EA might consider pushing Battlefield back to the first quarter of 2026, still within its fiscal year.

Alternatively, if EA plans a Q1 2026 release for Battlefield and Rockstar delays GTA 6 to the same period, EA could potentially move Battlefield up. Or, in a more drastic move, it might delay Battlefield beyond the fiscal year into the next, a decision Wilson’s comments suggest EA is prepared to make.

This scenario underscores why EA, and many other third-party publishers, are anxiously awaiting Rockstar’s announcement of the GTA 6 release date. Once that crucial piece of information is revealed, whether it sticks to the planned fall 2025 or shifts into 2026, the rest of the industry's puzzle pieces will likely fall into place.