EA says next Battlefield “expected” to release before April 2026

We might not have seen a whole lot of EA’s next Battlefield game beyond the few seconds of footage shared this week, but it turns out it’s not all that far away. The publisher has confirmed it expect the long-runnong shooter series’ latest instalment to arrive before April next year.

EA shared the news as part of its third-quarter financial earnings report, saying its new Battlefield is “expected fiscal year 2026 release”. That means the game should – all being well – arrive sometime between 1st April this year and 31st of March 2026.

Specifics remain limited, but EA last year confirmed the multiplayer shooter series would be returning to the modern era for its next outing, and that it would feature traditional classes and more focused maps – a clear indication it would be playing it safe and returning to what works following 2021’s poorly received Battlefield 2042.

That announcement also brought word EA would be launching playtests for Battlefield’s next instalmnt in order to “get the community back on our side” – and that initiative, now known as Battlefield Lab, was officially unveiled this week alongside some very brief early glimpses of gameplay.

The next Battlefield game is being developed by a huge group spread across four major EA teams, now working under the umbrella name of Battlefield Studios. That includes series creator DICE, splinter studio Ripple Effect, Dead Space Remake developer Motive, and Criterion – the veteran UK studio, which, as Eurogamer reported earlier this week, has now paused work on its next Need for Speed game in order to pitch in with the new Battlefield.

EA will be wanting to hit the ground running with the next Battlefield entry after it was forced to admit 2042 “did not meet expectations”. The publisher also had a difficult 2024, and last month said EA Sports FC 25 and Dragon Age: The Veilguard “underperformed” as it lowered its financial forecast for the year.