EA CEO claims poor marketing, delays, and battle royale woes hurt Battlefield V

EA chief exec Andrew Wilson claims Battlefield V failed to meet internal sales expectations due to poor marketing and unfortunate timing as a result of development delays. 

The WWII shooter sold 7.3 million units during Q3, around 1 million less than EA had initially anticipated, and Wilson has lamented the fact that development changes pushed its launch into a more difficult window.

Speaking during a recent earnings call, he also claimed that the decision to prioritize a single-player campaign over a battle royale mode -- which wll eventually launch in March 2019, four months after Battlefield V first hit shelves - also hurt sales.

"If I think about Battlefield V more holistically, I think we did not do a great job of building momentum early in the project," he commented. 

"And I think about this not just in the context of development but I think about this in the context of our broader execution against the entire campaign. Our launch didn't resonate as strongly as we would've liked it to with players, and we were never truly able to catch up."

He suggested the game stalled while competitors like Call of Duty, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Fortnite continued to gain momentum, leaving Battlefield fighting an uphill battle when it eventually landed on shelves.

"I think that we made the right decision to move the title in service of the quality of the game. And on balance, those that bought the game really enjoyed it, and the game was better for that move." continued Wilson. 

"But the combination of a poor start in our marketing campaign together with, what I think, was a longer development cycle that put us into a more competitive window."

You can hear more from the EA CEO by checking out the full earnings call transcript right here.