2014 may have been the first year since ’97 that EA didn’t release a new iteration in the Need for Speed franchise, but if the company’s CEO Andrew Wilson is to be believed, then ardent fans of the long-running racer will soon discover that the wait was worth it.
During a recent earnings call to investors, Wilson claimed that 2015’s entry into the series — in development at Swedish dev Ghost Games, following up on the well-received Rivals — is “already looking spectacular.” Alas, the executive remained mum on any further details pertaining to the title, though it would seem that this year’s new installment is relatively far in development, with all signs pointing to an E3 reveal in June.
One other tentpole that is gradually garnering more and more attention is DICE’s Star Wars Battlefront, which is currently slated to release later in the year to coincide with the release of J.J. Abrams’ The Force Awakens. Swapping out the traditional third-person perspective in favor of first, EA is certainly pushing the beloved franchise in a whole new direction, but according to the company’s CFO Blake Jorgensen, this new take on the Battlefront IP has “huge potential.”
We’re extremely excited about that and we think there is huge potential for that title. More to come in the next couple of months on that as more about the movie comes out, as well as more about our titles comes out, but you should consider that a very large activity for us next year and very large focus, similar to how we thought about Battlefields in the past.
How exactly this new approach will be received by the core fanbase remains to be seen, but for those players still enjoying their time with the publisher’s older titles — including Dragon Age: Inquisition and The Sims 4 — Wilson confirmed that users can expect new content to be released throughout the course of the year.
As things stand, 2015’s Need for Speed and Star Wars Battlefront are two of the biggest triple-A titles on the calendar year, but can each one deliver on expectations?