EA Delays Battlefield to Dodge GTA 6 Competition

2025 is shaping up to be an epic year for triple-A video game releases. With the highly anticipated launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 and its exclusive titles, gamers have much to look forward to. The year will also see major releases like Borderlands 4, Mafia: The Old Country, and Ghost of Yōtei, alongside the customary new Call of Duty title from Activision, expected in October or November.

However, the spotlight is firmly on Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto 6, slated for a fall 2025 release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S. Despite the buzz, there's still uncertainty about potential delays. Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar's parent company, remains committed to the fall 2025 window. This uncertainty, combined with the flood of other major releases, poses a challenge for EA's upcoming Battlefield title.

EA has scheduled the next Battlefield for its fiscal year 2026, ending before April 2026. This timing places it squarely in competition with GTA 6, and possibly Call of Duty and Borderlands 4. In a competitive market, release dates are crucial. EA CEO Andrew Wilson acknowledged this during a recent financial call, hinting 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 in 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 elaborated, "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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As things stand, the new Battlefield is set to release before April 2026. If we speculate a November 2025 launch (following the pattern of Battlefield 2042 in November 2021 and Battlefield 5 in November 2018), and if GTA 6 launches around that time, EA might consider pushing Battlefield to the first quarter of 2026 to avoid direct competition.

Alternatively, if EA is already planning a Q1 2026 release for Battlefield and Rockstar delays GTA 6 to the same period, EA might either bring Battlefield forward or delay it beyond the fiscal year. Such decisions are significant, but Wilson's comments suggest EA is ready to adapt.

The gaming industry is keenly awaiting Rockstar's official announcement on the GTA 6 release date. Once that's clear, whether it sticks to fall 2025 or shifts into 2026, other publishers, including EA, will adjust their plans accordingly.