EA and DICE might be unwilling to share specifics about the highly anticipated FPS "Battlefield 5." But that hasn't stopped the rumor mill from churning, due to information straight from the developers' mouths and leaks from various sources. Now, all that is known about the upcoming title will be laid bare.
Fans have been hungry for a new "Battlefield" has been on the rise ever since the 2015 release of "Battlefield Hardline," which has been criticized as a cheap rehash of older titles except with a "cops and robbers" theme. This hunger has risen thanks to the knowledge of EA's history of releasing a new game every year. There are some exceptions to this trend of course, such as the two-year gap between "1942" and "Vietnam" or "Battlefield 3" and "Battlefield 4," but for the most part that trend has been consistent and sometimes we even see multiple releases in a single year.
It's 2016 now, so unless they have another two-year gap, which seems unlikely due to factors that will be mentioned later, "Battlefield 5" is coming whether developers are ready to openly confirm its existence or not.
So here is what we know so far:
Development
EA DICE has already confirmed that a new "Battlefield" title is in development. Whether it will be called "Battlefield 5" or something else like "Battlefield 1942" or "Battlefield Vietnam," is anyone's guess, but we know it's coming.
Additionally the firm has already indicated in two separate announcements that development will be switching to the next "Battlefield." The first came in December when the development director at EA Dice confirmed on Twitter that he would be moving on to work on the next "Battlefield" since "Star Wars Battlefront" had shipped, the second came last week when the producer at EA Dice announced that no new content for "Battlefield 4's" CTE will be released - granted, he also revealed that there's no current plans to shut it down entirely.
Release Date
We don't have a specific release date, but we do have one to look forward to. On top of the observed typical yearly release, CFO Blake Jorgensen said the next Battlefield would be coming in Q3 2016. Similarly the listing at World of Games has "Battlefield 5" slated for an October release.
Granted, a release isn't usually static, but unless the game is delayed, expecting a late 2016 release isn't unreasonable.
Setting
In 2014, Jorgensen announced at the year UBS Global Technology Conference that Battlefield 5 would return to its military-style roots. This didn't say much however, just that fans could expect not to see another "Hardline." But thanks to the same World of Games listing that gave us a release date, also gave us a setting to look forward to.
As it turns out, as EA DICE looks to move to the future, the best way to move forward is to go back in time. Almost a century, in fact. The listing has the upcoming shooter classified as a "Mehrspieler Taktik Shooter im 1. Weltkrieg." This translates to "Multiplayer tactical shooter in WW1" in English.
Though not confirmed, such a move wouldn't be unreasonable as the first "Battlefield" was set during World War II.
For now this is all speculation, because EA DICE has yet to make an official announcement. So when can we expect to hear actual news? As with almost all gaming news, you can expect the juicy bits to be revealed during E3. However this year, EA won't have a booth, instead it will have an "EA Play" event from June 12 to June 14, and its annual keynote will be moved to June 12 as well.
To check out the latest news about the rival FPS "Call of Duty," click here.
