Re: BF6 skipping PS4 and Xbox One. Is that a bad thing?

Many people have complained about 'a waste of rescourses' around Battlefield.

How much of a waste will it be to develop a 'toned down' version of BF6 for last gen and what are you willing to have 'missing' from next gen if they do?

How long will last gen be viable once next gen supply issues are resolved?

It would not surprise me in the least if there was no last gen version, indeed I hope there isn't.

It should be noted that I am one of those unfortunate souls that is yet to acquire a PS5 and I reluctantly accept that there will be no BF6 for me till I do. 

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@Trokey66 wrote:

Many people have complained about 'a waste of rescourses' around Battlefield.

How much of a waste will it be to develop a 'toned down' version of BF6 for last gen and what are you willing to have 'missing' from next gen if they do?

How long will last gen be viable once next gen supply issues are resolved?

It would not surprise me in the least if there was no last gen version, indeed I hope there isn't.

It should be noted that I am one of those unfortunate souls that is yet to acquire a PS5 and I reluctantly accept that there will be no BF6 for me till I do. 

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Well from a development perspective, it makes sense to only support the latest generation.  I was saying from a marketing and sales perspective, it might not work to leave last gen behind.  If the installed base of next gen consoles is small when the game drops, it will mean you can only sell to that small base.  

Maybe by the time the game drops there will be a large enough base of next gen consoles to support a next gen only release.  There will be some tipping point where that will work.  If for instance the game dropped right now and only supported next gen, then game sales would by abysmal until the next gen installed base catches up.  .  However maybe if it drops late in the year or better yet, next year, there will be enough next gen consoles to support it.

It will be a strategic decision, based on how much additional development effort is required to support last gen and how many more sales dollars can be made by supporting last gen.  

The longer they wait to drop the game, the better off they will be focusing only on next gen.  So unfortunately, this gives them incentive to wait to drop the game.

I'm with @Trokey66 on this one.

I personally don't think a last gen version should be made because it's not just a quick fix to make it work on last gen consoles. The generation gap has always been small and DICE have still had to cut the map sizes down, and remove a ton of assets from the game just to make it work. This time around is a huge gap and with the technology they are adding to the game I just don't see it being possible to build it for last gen without a huge amount of effort and cut down, and even then you're going to completely lose the whole experience DICE were aiming for.

It will suck for those who can't get hold of a next gen console but we are still six months away from release.
The fact there isn't an inch of news about last gen either, no leaks, no rumours, nothing, tells me that there won't be one. I could be completely wrong but we should all find out soon enough when the reveal trailer drops anytime now. (nudges DICE)

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@Trokey66 wrote:
@Forkbeard84Next gen is coming, EA/DICE know that and will no doubt consider that in their projections.

The question they have would be, is the short term possible benefits of developing for last gen worth it.

Also from a players perspective, will a next gen version be a fair representation of the intended vision or will it be too watered down.

I don't think it is worth it for what could be delivered.

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Agreeing with you @Trokey66  and @CarbonCarl ,

Going on compromise with what could and should be the next great BF game to us all for the next 3+ years out, would be a grave mistake by EA !

Think back and compare with the BF4 release, where it was available for the greatest new PS4/xBox One, while also available in a drastic watered down version for the old PS3 and xBox360.  Smaller maps, low resolution graphics, fewer players, fewer vehicles in game, etc etc.  A very disappointing gaming experience vs the epic full scale/full blast BF4 was on PS4/xBox One in comparison.  But yes, I do recognize that even today we still have some (happy?) players on old gen consoles...  They obviously don't know the existing better world or they cant afford it?  But that is exactly also the point, is it even a viable ROI for EA to having to both develop and long-term support a separate watered down version?  The current gen consoles cannot handle the full scale/tech specs of the new coming BF game, so it will have to be handled as a complete separate game/server/player world.

All EA and partner resources should all be lined up and focused on to make this next BF the epic experience on next gen that it has to be for EA to carve back the lost marketshare they have suffered in recent years.  No wobbling around please, no blinking.  And no excuses!

@CyberDymeIf they make a version for low spec PCs (4 core CPUs and older GPUs - like the GTX1060/RX580), they could make a version for older consoles as well. This would improve the number of players / paying customers (which we need for a game that doesn't die too soon).

Personally, I hope they will go for only last gen consoles/'higher-end' PCs, improve Frostbite and use the increased CPU(/GPU)-power for more destruction, better netcode, better sound, more players (etc). But if all the extra "power" are just used for "nicer" graphics, more graphical effects (ray-tracing/what ever), random weather-effects and more map-clutter, then it will probably hurt game-play more, than adding anything useful to the game

I guess we will need to upgrade

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@CyberDyme wrote:

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@Trokey66 wrote:
@Forkbeard84Next gen is coming, EA/DICE know that and will no doubt consider that in their projections.

The question they have would be, is the short term possible benefits of developing for last gen worth it.

Also from a players perspective, will a next gen version be a fair representation of the intended vision or will it be too watered down.

I don't think it is worth it for what could be delivered.

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Agreeing with you @Trokey66  and @CarbonCarl ,

Going on compromise with what could and should be the next great BF game to us all for the next 3+ years out, would be a grave mistake by EA !

Think back and compare with the BF4 release, where it was available for the greatest new PS4/xBox One, while also available in a drastic watered down version for the old PS3 and xBox360.  Smaller maps, low resolution graphics, fewer players, fewer vehicles in game, etc etc.  A very disappointing gaming experience vs the epic full scale/full blast BF4 was on PS4/xBox One in comparison.  But yes, I do recognize that even today we still have some (happy?) players on old gen consoles...  They obviously don't know the existing better world or they cant afford it?  But that is exactly also the point, is it even a viable ROI for EA to having to both develop and long-term support a separate watered down version?  The current gen consoles cannot handle the full scale/tech specs of the new coming BF game, so it will have to be handled as a complete separate game/server/player world.

All EA and partner resources should all be lined up and focused on to make this next BF the epic experience on next gen that it has to be for EA to carve back the lost marketshare they have suffered in recent years.  No wobbling around please, no blinking.  And no excuses!

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Well, I'm starting to think they wont support last gen either.  My big take away from all of this (aside from that I need to upgrade to a ps5) is that if EA focuses only on next Gen, then a delayed release of the game improves the size of their next gen installed base.  So this dynamic, makes it more likely the game will be released later rather than "sooner."

I still don't have a PS5 but I hope that the next BF won't be on last gen. I think that releasing the game on so many platforms would be risky and I don't want to see a repeat of BF4's launch.

After so many years with inferior servers than the PC version, it's time for Battlefield to get rid of those 30hz servers forever and finally get 60hz running on consoles, I've been waiting for this since I participated in the 60hz BF4 tests on PS4. Last gen clearly couldn't handle it properly and that's why the devs never upgraded the servers for us console players but while the tests were far from perfect, it sometimes felt pretty good and I'm looking forward to experiencing that again on PS5.

It's not worth putting it on last Gen consoles. We are also in a different situation from BF4.  Bf4 was released before PS4 so they had to do both really.  With BF6 released way after the release of new gen consoles, there is no reason for them having to make a last Gen version.

I think it would be a bad idea to develop for the near 10 year old consoles along side the current gen consoles and PC technology but I don't think it should be ruled out. We know that the current gen consoles can handle 64 players on large maps so even if it were on a smaller scale, it would still remain at the standard scale for Battlefield games. That being said, any effort put into last gen versions of the game should be a secondary concern if there is any spare time and resources to work on it.

I don't have either and tbh I'm not in a rush but...

150 million Vs 25 million (?) at release consoles shows what makes financial sense. Battlefield is a popular game but it's not FIFA or CoD. It would be great they went balls out used all the technology to make a fantastic game but even then it will still be selling to the same people.