Battlefield 1 has come out and DICE have managed to successfully bring the series back in time to a very basic period in terms of warfare.
Tanks, guns, planes etc are all very simple. yet they've pulled it off. the gameplay, graphics, sound and online are all top notch. it's off to a great start critically and in terms of sales. expect big holiday numbers and decent legs thereafter.
I think this puts the series in an enviable position. it must have been risky bringing the series back so far in time. but now that they've pulled it off the only way is up.
WW1 is fresh and shooting fans really wanted less of the modern and futuristic stuff. BF1 has provided that and will satisfy their itch. But going forward battlefield will get sequels, usually a few years apart. by the time the next battlefield comes around the fans will be really thirsty for some more advanced warfare.
And that leads me to my point. DICE won't have trouble after BF1 impressing fans with the next mainline BF they announce. Personally I think Vietnam is the next best thing. it has choppers, jets, boats, tanks and many awesome weapons. it won't be quite modern day and the setting is appealing.
Let's say they go with Vietnam and a few years later they release another mainline entry. by this stage if they go back to WW2 I think it would work. again people would of had their fix of more modern Warfare and this would be the perfect follow up. they could call it BF2. WW2 has more advanced planes, weapons and vehicles. more exciting battles than WW1 so it would be even better than BF1. it would also satisfy what I'd imagine would be big demand for a proper WW2 shooter.
So again let's assume they do Vietnam followed by WW2 what next? well the third mainline battlefield would probably be 8 years from now. If they really did Vietnam and WW2 by this stage the fans would be super thirsty for modern Warfare present day battles again. so they can do that. Maybe a follow up to BF4 and call it BF5.
So we have:
BF: Vietnam
BF2
BF5
What next?
Well battlefield 2142 of course! so you see from my OP, DICE and EA have so many good options for the series. it's in a really healthy place going forward. I think BF1 is the best thing they've ever done and in terms of sales it really paid off. so high fives all round!
