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EA’s Next Battlefield Game Exceeds $400 Million as Burnout and Delays Mount

Exhaustion leaves combined with global time-zone clashes threaten to force feature cuts or a massive day-one patch

A marketing image for Battlefield depicting soldiers and jets
battlefield has always been controversial

Overview

  • Internal sources report development costs have surpassed $400 million, intensifying pressure on EA’s largest-ever live-service shooter project
  • Dozens of team members have taken mental exhaustion leave lasting between two weeks and nine months, highlighting widespread burnout across four collaborating studios
  • Coordination frictions among DICE, Motive, Criterion and Ripple Effect have contributed to missed meetings and slipping core development deadlines
  • The project’s 100 million-player target has expanded Glacier’s scope to include a free-to-play battle royale, a six-hour campaign and revamped Conquest multiplayer modes
  • EA is weighing cuts to single-player segments and planning substantial day-one and seasonal updates to meet its April 2026 release window