Can EA's big-budget gamble pay off?

Georgia Levy-CollinsBBC Newsbeat

An EA screenshot from Battlefield 6 shows a female sniper resting her cheek on the butt of a long-range rifle and looking through the scope. There is an expression of concentration on her face, covered with black dust. — Battlefield 6 hopes to succeed – but can it achieve its goal?

“A new contender has appeared.”

In the fiercely competitive world of video games, new contenders tend to disappear as quickly as they appear on the scene.

But Battlefield 6 hopes to change that.

It's the latest game in the long-running military shooter series, often described as a grittier, more realistic answer to Call of Duty.

The game has never been able to match its most famous rival in terms of sales and player numbers, but there are signs that a new installment could close the gap.

The preview weekend that gave players a chance to try out the game earlier this year broke records, and the hype surrounding its launch was huge.

But the project remains a big gamble for publisher Electronic Arts (EA), which reportedly spent hundreds of millions of dollars making it.

BBC Newsbeat spoke to some of the creators to find out how they hope it will pay off.

Four studios owned by EA worked on the game under the Battlefield Studios brand.

These include Sweden-based original series developer Dice, Los Angeles-based Motive Studios and Canada-based Ripple Effect Studios.

The fourth, Criterion, is based in Guildford, UK.

Rebecca Cutaz, general manager of the two European studios, told Newsbeat that in terms of what it offers players, “Battlefield 6 is probably unbeatable.”

Rebecca Kutaz is in charge of the European Battlefield studio.

EA A woman with sleek blonde hair and black glasses poses for an office portrait. She smiles, resting her chin on her hands. — Rebecca Kutaz is in charge of the European Battlefield studio.

The game is based on the futuristic Battlefield 2042, which released four years ago and received a backlash from which it has struggled to recover.

“We probably wouldn't have been able to create and develop Battlefield 6 without the knowledge we gained from Battlefield 2042,” Rebecca told Newsbeat.

One of those lessons was early fan engagement, and earlier this year the team launched invite-only community playtests.

“The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive,” says Rebecca.

Another missing element from Battlefield 2042 was the single-player campaign, which has been restored this time around.

Criterion's design director, Fasahat “Fas” Salim, is responsible for “making sure these missions are as fun and interesting as possible for players.”

Despite statements that the scale of the project created a burden on different studios Having collaborated on the game on different continents, Fas has a positive attitude towards the process.

“Collaborating with different cultures, different backgrounds, it's a really interesting environment to be involved in every day,” he says.

“This whole approach was something new, but really interesting because we work with people from all over the world.”

Regarding expectations from the team, Fas says: “There is pressure, but it is also exciting.

“This is a big project. This is probably the biggest project most of us have ever worked on.”

Vlad is pursuing a BA in Visual Effects at Bournemouth University while working at Criterion.

Black background with Battlefield 6 text in white at the top of the image. Vlad is wearing a black zip-up hoodie with a black T-shirt underneath with a Battlefield print on the front. He has shoulder-length curly light brown hair. — Vlad is pursuing a BA in Visual Effects at Bournemouth University while working at Criterion.

This is definitely the case for at least one team member, lighting designer Vlad Kokhan.

The 21-year-old creates atmospheric effects that define the mood, tone and direction of the single-player campaign.

He interned at Criterion before taking the job there, and currently works part-time while completing a degree in visual effects at Bournemouth University.

Vlad says he's a longtime fan of the Battlefield series and remembers playing the fourth installment in the series at a friend's house when he was younger.

Working on it now, since it's his first job in the industry, “doesn't feel real.”

“It’s really crazy to see marketing everywhere,” he says.

“Knowing that I put something of myself into the game is really surreal.”

A hand-painted mural of the game at EA's Guildford offices.

An impressionistic painting of two soldiers in gray military uniforms climbing across a battlefield. Military planes are flying in the air, fire is blazing around them, and in the distance, across the water, a city is visible. — A hand-painted mural of the game at EA's Guildford offices.

Battlefield 6 is expected to launch big, and analysts predict it could sell up to five million copies in the first week.

But its real success in a volatile and unpredictable industry won't be evident for months, if not years.

To maintain momentum, he will need to distract and keep players away from rivals including CoD, Fortnite and Roblox.

But while the signs are encouraging, Rebecca is cautious when asked if she feels confident.

“I would say yes and no, who knows,” she says.

“The only thing that matters to me now – and I’ve been saying this for four years now – is that we don’t disappoint our community, our players.”

Concerns for the future of Battlefield have also been fueled by recent news that EA has agreed to sell the company to a group led by Saudi Arabia. for $55 billion (£41 billion).

In a deal known as a leveraged buyout, EA took on $20bn (£14bn) of debt, leaving fans wary of cuts.

The company advised employees not to expect “immediate changes” in their work.

As for Battlefield 6, Rebecca told Newsbeat that the team will continue to work as planned, and has already shared details about monthly updates and content additions.

“I'm here to help our team members achieve the best results in their careers, so my path hasn't changed, it's still the same,” she insists.

Fas is responsible for solo missions in the new game.

A man wearing a black cardigan over a white T-shirt stands in front of "Battlefield Studios" poster. It shows a picturesque image of a soldier inside a combat aircraft with the cargo door at the back open. — Fas is responsible for solo missions in the new game.

EA has been vocal about its plans to use generative artificial intelligence in game development, and its potential new owners are betting on the technology to boost profits. according to the Financial Times.

These tools are controversial, causing concern among developers and backlash from some fans.

Rebecca reports that Newsbeat players won't see anything GenAI created in Battlefield 6, but it's being used in the pre-production stages to “leave more time and space for creativity.”

Rebecca says GenAI is “very tempting” but there is currently no way to incorporate it into developers' day-to-day work.

Still, she shares EA's optimism about its potential.

“If we can break the magic with AI, it will help us become more innovative and creative,” she says.

According to Fas, GenAI “is not something to be afraid of in our industry.”

“Especially because we work in a technology environment, we're used to things changing,” he says.

“It’s just a matter of how we can productively incorporate this into our workflows, how we can use this to take our games to the next level.”

However, for now the team is focused on releasing Battlefield 6.

“We spend a lot of time behind closed doors creating these things,” Fas says.

“But when it gets into the hands of the players and you see them having a great time, people screaming, people getting excited, that’s what we’ve been working on for years.”

“This is what most of us game developers are looking forward to. We just want to see people play this thing and then have fun with it.”