EA Explains Why Releasing Titanfall 2 and Battlefield 1 in 2016 Isn't a Bad Idea

EA has discussed its sales expectations for Titanfall 2 and explained why it feels having it launch alongside Battlefield 1 could strengthen its position in the shooter genre, instead of cannibalise the sales of both titles.

Speaking during an investor relations call, CEO Andrew Wilson said Titanfall 2 and Battlefield 1 will cater to the different types of shooter players, giving EA broad coverage of the genre.

"[Shooters are] a giant category in our industry, $4.5 billion, there's a very broad and diverse set of players who are looking to fulfill different gameplay motivations. Some people play very quick play, some people play more strategic, some people want both in different context.

"We feel we have a really strong position to deliver the broader set of gameplay mechanics as it relates to the first-person shooter genre across two titles. I feel very confident that we are well positioned to do very well in that category in the year."

Asked about the sales potential of Titanfall 2 in relation to the first game, CFO Blake Jorgensen indicated that EA is confident the sequel will outsell Titanfall, but noted that the attach rate with consoles may not be as high, given that the original was one of the first AAA shooters for the Xbox One.

"[Titanfall 2] has evolved substantially from the first Titanfall," Jorgensen said. "It will be on both platforms, which obviously means a bigger audience for Titanfall, particularly with the Sony platform, which hasn't experienced [Titanfall before]. But at the same time obviously the attach won't be any where near as high as it was [with Titanfall] because it was one of the first AAA titles for the new Xbox One.

"We think you're going to see numbers clearly larger than our [first] Titanfall. We've got expectations for it but we try to be prudent in how we forecast that in our guidance."

As part of its latest earnings report, EA also confirmed Titanfall 2 will be out by the end of 2016. It is scheduled for a fiscal Q3 release, a period that spans October 2016 through to the end of December 2016. Battlefield 1, meanwhile, has a confirmed release date of October 21.

Other noteworthy announcements from the report include confirmation that Star Wars Battlefront 2 is in development, and will use content based off the new movies. Additionally, EA plans to release one new Star Wars game every year for the next three to four years, with DICE's Battlefront sequel likely to be followed by the Star Wars action game from Dead Space studio Visceral and Motive.

Titanfall developer Respawn is also working on a third-person action-adventure Star Wars game, but a release window for this was not provided.