EA loves to set the bar astronomically high. It's perhaps a reason as to why many of its recent games haven't lived up to expectations, as recently EA Sports FC of all things hasn't been hitting the highs the publisher wants, while Dragon Age: The Veilguard is regarded as a mega flop despite fairly quickly surpassing a million sold units. You'd think the bigwigs at the company would learn from this and set more reasonable goals, but clearly not, at least judging by a recent report relating to Battlefield.
Ars Technica has published a report that claims that EA executives want to see the upcoming Battlefield 6 - as we're calling it for the time being - reaching 100 million players. For reference, that would see it going toe-to-toe with Call of Duty, something that the franchise has never really managed to do.
The hilariously mad thing about this reported expectation is that even EA employees seem to realise its futility, with one stating: "Obviously, Battlefield has never achieved those numbers before. It's important to understand that over about that same period, 2042 has only gotten 22 million," and another adding, "Battlefield 1—the most successful game in the franchise by numbers—had achieved "maybe 30 million plus."
Granted, EA is going bigger than ever for Battlefield 6, outlining a reported budget of around $400 million for the game back in 2023, something that is said to have long been surpassed.
Without sounding cynical, it does seem like EA has another Dragon Age: The Veilguard on its hands here, as it feels like the weight Battlefield 6 will be carrying on its shoulders might just be too big for the game to ever succeed in EA's eyes.
Are you confident in Battlefield 6?