'Battlefield 5' Release Date Update: Analyst Calls Title 'Top-Selling Game for 2016'
An analyst has boldly predicted the top-selling game of 2016. That honor, he said, would be given to "Battlefield 5."
Michael Pachter, a well-known industry analyst, touched briefly on the fate of "Battlefield 5." Responding to a question, he said that the top-selling game for 2016 would be Electronic Arts' upcoming game.
"If ever there was a year where somebody could knock Call of Duty off the top, it's this coming year," said Pachter in an episode of his show "Pachter Factor" (video below, skip to 21:29 mark). "I encourage EA to take advantage of the opportunity with Battlefield 5, if only DICE can get multiplayer right … So I'm going to call Battlefield 5 as the top-selling game for 2016."
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He explained that EA DICE is learning from mistakes it has made in "Star Wars Battlefront," which received a low Metacritic score. He's confident that the company will be able to get "Battlefield 5" right.
He acknowledged, however, that his prediction "is a big stretch." He says that for the game to win over "Call of Duty," it will have to "take some real power" from EA.
Video game publishers EA and Activision have been competing for many years now on bringing out the best first-player shooter game in the market. Gaming Bolt notes how Activision's "Call of Duty" series has been winning in this area more often than EA's "Battlefield."
EA's upcoming game is rumored to be called "Battlefield 5: Armageddon." Dan Vanderlind, development director at DICE, confirmed last week that the game is now currently in development.
EA's chief financial officer Blake Jorgensen also confirmed during the 2014 UBS Global Technology Conference that the new game will move away from "Battlefield: Hardline's" cops versus robbers theme and return to its military roots. "Battlefield 5" is expected to release during the holidays next year, as previously announced during an earnings call in 2014.
