EA not ready to announce annualization of Battlefield franchise

With the recent announcement that the Medal of Honor series has been pulled from its bi-yearly release schedule, it opened the door to the idea that EA is considering annualizing its Battlefield franchise. That is, the release of a new Battlefield title every year, similar to what Activision does with Call of Duty. Despite the perception, EA is not yet committed to annualizing its popular series.

Speaking during the investor call, EA boss Frank Gibeau confirmed, "We are not announcing an annualization of Battlefield today. What we've said is that we will be launching a Battlefield game next year, and we're very excited to show you guys more detail on that coming soon. But we're not announcing an annualization of Battlefield at this time."

With that being said, Battlefield 4, the next installment of the franchise, is set to release some time "next year", though it isn't clear if Gibeau meant "next calendar year" or "next fiscal year." Beta for Battlefield 4 is slated for fall 2013 for those who pre-orded Medal of Honor: Warfighter.

"We've already talked a little bit about that we have a Battlefield title coming next year, but we're not in a position right now to talk about our development plans and our SKU plan long term," Gibeau added. We can expect more news about the game, however, "in about 90 days."

According to EA CEO John Riccitiello, Battlefield and FIFA will be the company's two big franchises going into next gen.

[Seeking Alpha]