EA Delays Battlefield to Avoid GTA 6 Clash

2025 is shaping up to be an incredible year for triple-A video games. Not only are we anticipating the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 and its exclusive titles, but there's also a lineup of major releases slated for later in the year, including Borderlands 4, Mafia: The Old Country, and Ghost of Yōtei. And let's not forget the annual tradition: a new Call of Duty from Activision, likely hitting shelves in October or November.

However, the real juggernaut everyone is watching is Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto 6, set to launch in the fall of 2025 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S. Despite Take-Two sticking to this timeline, there's always the looming possibility of a delay. This uncertainty, combined with the release of other major shooters, puts EA's Battlefield in a challenging position to find its own space.

EA has scheduled the next Battlefield for its 2026 fiscal year, which ends in April 2026. This timing overlaps with the anticipated release window for GTA 6, and potentially Call of Duty and Borderlands 4. So, how much do competing game release dates influence EA's decision on when to launch Battlefield?

Quite a bit, according to EA CEO Andrew Wilson, who hinted during a recent financial call that EA might even consider delaying Battlefield if necessary.

"Certainly, we exist in a competitive marketplace," Wilson stated, responding to an analyst's question on the topic. "I've had the great fortune to be with 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.

"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 it stands, the new Battlefield is slated to release before April 2026. Let's speculate a potential November 2025 release, aligning with previous Battlefield launches like Battlefield 2042 in November 2021 and Battlefield 5 in November 2018. If GTA 6 launches around the same time, EA might consider pushing Battlefield to the first quarter of 2026, still within its fiscal year.

What if EA plans to release Battlefield in Q1 2026, and then Rockstar delays GTA 6 to the same period? EA could potentially move Battlefield up or, alternatively, delay it out of the fiscal year into the next. This would be a significant decision, but Wilson's comments suggest that EA is prepared to adapt.

It's clear why EA, and many other third-party publishers, are eagerly awaiting Rockstar's announcement of the GTA 6 release date. Once it's confirmed, whether for the planned fall 2025 or a later 2026 date, the rest of the industry's release schedules will likely fall into place.