What just happened? EA is taking a calculated risk by delaying the launch of Battlefield V in order to avoid competing with Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 and Red Dead Redemption 2. Will it pay off?
EA on Thursday announced that Battlefield V will miss its original launch window by a full month. Initially scheduled to arrive on October 19, the game is being pushed back until November 20.
Oskar Gabrielson, general manager at DICE, offered up an explanation for the delay, saying the developer is taking the extra time to make final adjustments to core gameplay based on user feedback. According to Gabrielson, they've already made some meaningful improvements to the core experience such as improving soldier visibility, adjusting the gameplay tempo and reducing player friction. These changes and more will be reflected in the open beta set to kick off on September 6.
There's another good reason for the delay that Gabrielson failed to mention.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 launches on October 12 and is followed a couple of weeks later by the arrival of Red Dead Redemption 2 on October 26. Had Battlefield V kept its original October 19 launch date, it would have been sandwiched right between two other highly anticipated games.
A rumor that pre-orders for Battlefield V have been weak probably isn't helping matters, either.