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 will we see the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 along with its exclusive titles, but we're also eagerly anticipating major releases like *Borderlands 4*, *Mafia: The Old Country*, and *Ghost of Yōtei*. And let's not forget the annual blockbuster from Activision, the new *Call of Duty*, likely slated for an October or November release.

However, the most anticipated game of 2025 is undoubtedly Rockstar's *Grand Theft Auto 6*, scheduled for a fall release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S. While Take-Two, Rockstar's parent company, is currently holding firm to this timeline, the gaming community remains on edge about potential delays. Amidst this uncertainty and the onslaught of other major releases, EA's *Battlefield* series faces a challenging landscape.

EA has planned the next *Battlefield* for its fiscal year 2026, meaning a release before April 2026. This timing puts it squarely in competition with *GTA 6*, and possibly even *Call of Duty* and *Borderlands 4*. The question then arises: how much does EA need to consider the release dates of these competing titles when planning *Battlefield*'s launch?

According to EA CEO Andrew Wilson, the answer is quite a lot. In a recent financial call, he acknowledged the competitive nature of the gaming industry and hinted at the possibility of delaying *Battlefield* if necessary.

"Certainly, we exist in a competitive marketplace," Wilson stated. "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. That being said, we've invested more in this *Battlefield* than any *Battlefield* before. 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 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 further added, "I do believe that this year might be a nuanced year relative to 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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Currently, the new *Battlefield* is set to launch before April 2026. If we consider a potential November 2025 release (following the pattern of *Battlefield 2042* in November 2021 and *Battlefield 5* in November 2018), and *GTA 6* launches around the same time, EA might decide to delay *Battlefield* to the first quarter of 2026, still within its fiscal year.

But what if EA is already planning a Q1 2026 release for *Battlefield*, and then Rockstar delays *GTA 6* to Q1 2026? EA might then consider moving *Battlefield* forward or, alternatively, push it out of the fiscal year into 2027. Such a decision, while significant, is something EA seems prepared to contemplate based on Wilson's comments.

It's clear why EA, along with many other third-party publishers, is holding its breath, awaiting Rockstar's announcement of the *GTA 6* release date. Once that date is confirmed, whether it's for the fall of 2025 as planned or delayed into 2026, the rest of the industry's release schedule will likely fall into place.