EA head says ‘Call Of Duty’ Xbox-exclusivity would be “tremendous” for ‘Battlefield’

EA CEO Andrew Wilson has shared that Call Of Duty becoming an Xbox-exclusive series would be a “tremendous opportunity” for EA’s Battlefield series.

As Microsoft‘s acquisition of Activision Blizzard continues, the purchase has come under scrutiny over the possibility of Microsoft potentially making Call Of Duty an Xbox-exclusive. While Microsoft says it will continue to launch Call Of Duty on PlayStation, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan has slammed Microsoft’s three-year offer as “inadequate on many levels.” 

Speaking at last week’s Communacopia + Technology conference (via Gamespot), Wilson addressed the speculation surrounding Call Of Duty‘s future.

“In a world where there may be questions over the future of Call Of Duty and what platforms that might be on or might not be on, being platform agnostic and completely cross-platform with Battlefield, I think is a tremendous opportunity,” reflected Wilson.

However, Wilson also acknowledged that EA’s latest Battlefield releases haven’t lived up to players’ expectations. “I don’t think we delivered in the last two iterations of that in the way that we should have,” said Wilson. “There’s a lot of work that we’ve got to do there.”

Wilson’s comments reflect Battlefield head Vince Zampella’s thoughts on Battlefield 2042‘s disappointment. Discussing 2042, Zampella said that it had “strayed a little too far from what Battlefield is.”

“They tried to do a couple things that were maybe ambitious: grow the player count etc,” added Zampella. “I don’t think they spent enough time iterating on what makes that fun.”

Looking ahead, EA appears to have big plans for Battlefield. Ridgeline Games, the studio founded by Halo co-creator Marcus Lehtro, is currently working on a “narrative campaign” set in the Battlefield universe.

Meanwhile, EA has also discussed a “global effort” to coordinate “multiple studios under a leadership team of industry veterans to build a connected Battlefield universe.”