Battlefield V sold below expectations when launched back in 2018. Now, EA has revealed that Battlefield 5 sold 7.3 million copies which is 1 million less than the projected sales.
During the recent investors call for EA’s third quarter of the fiscal year 2019, CEO Andrew Wilson noted that Battlefield 5 sold below expectations.
Wilson partially blamed the Battlefield 5 singleplayer campaign for weak sales. He added that DICE’s decision to prioritize the Battlefield 5 campaign over the Battle Royale mode resulted in low sales figure.
Wilson noted that Battle Royale mode was extremely popular in 2018 and DICE not capitalizing on that caused problems.
However, EA CEO added that Battlefield V campaign wasn’t the only factor for the game to miss its sales projections. He noted delaying the game until November also had an impact.
In late November, the holiday season starts and most of the games especially Battlefield competitors were discounted at the time. Despite all this, EA is optimistic about the future of Battlefield series. The Battle Royale mode, Firestorm, will be added to Battlefield 5 in March 2019.
Despite facing a severe backlash for including loot boxes and microtransactions, seems like Electronic Arts hasn’t learned its lesson. While there are no loot boxes in Battlefield 5 but there are microtransactions.
Not only that, EA is going hard on microtransactions as soon DICE will be adding premium only cosmetics in the game. Meaning there will be specific cosmetic items that can only be bought with real-world money.
However, things aren’t looking bright for EA as a company. EA Execs have dumped millions worth of stock amid the crisis. With Anthem releasing just over a week from now, it seems that even the executives don’t have any faith in the game succeeding.
EA’s persistence on aggressive monetization in its games with loot boxes and microtransactions resulted in consumer’s lack of trust in EA. Gamers are no longer willing to buy or pre-order EA published games until reviews come in.
This is why Bioware’s Anthem is in a tough spot. Not only that, many have raised concerns that Anthem feels like a rushed game and required at least 6 more months.
Also, Bioware has confirmed that Anthem’s PC version will see overhauled controls. Players will be able to use raw mouse input without any acceleration and more.
While Anthem is a full $60 game but, Bioware did consider a free-to-play model in early development to make sure the game is profitable.
Battlefield V is a first-person action shooter developed by EA DICE for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.
Source: EA
