Video Game publisher Electronic Arts (EA) said it is halting the development of upcoming projects for its Battlefield 4 to fix technical issues. Battlefield 4, a military-style shooter game and the company’s most anticipated holiday title, has been hounded by complaints since its launch in October this year. Gamers report of crashes and online connectivity issues.
In a bid to focus on and fix technical glitches fast, Electronic Arts said in a statement that it will not move on to future projects or expansions until it has sorted out all problems with Battlefield 4. The decision, however, proved to be perilous as investors pulled out their stakes and pushed the sell button after the announcement was made. EA share price tanked in the stock market.
The investors’ reaction, however, is understandable given the extensive problems with one of EA’s signature games and the time it will take to fix the server limitations, connectivity issues and other problems that Battlefield 4 gamers experience.
Failure to fix the technical issues sooner is likewise expected to hurt the company even further. In a research report, Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia says that EA will likely have to endure more financial pain until it fixes the server issues. Bhatia also noted in his report that the Battlefield 4 sell-through is substantially down compared to Battlefield 3 last year, and that "the server issues further exacerbate this and create risk to full-year estimates."
A spokesman for Electronic Arts said that the company is temporarily putting the development on upcoming titles on hold to focus on the current problems but assured that the company’s effort to stabilize Battlefield 4 won't affect their release schedule for future titles. The company plans for five Battlefield 4 expansion packs with additional content for next year but did not announce any release date.
Battlefield 4 has been launched on several platforms, including the Xbox One from Microsoft and the new PlayStation 4 from Sony. Sales, however, are weaker than expected, according to Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter.
Shares of EA finished down at $21.01 on Thursday on the NASDAQ, its biggest drop since March.
