Star Wars Battlefront Will Have “Incredibly Long” Tail, EA Says

Just like Battlefield 4, EA’s new shooter Star Wars Battlefront will remain popular a year after launch or longer. That’s according to EA COO Peter Moore, who said Battlefront’s numerous expansion packs should help keep people interested for at least the next year, while sales of the base game will continue to be strong as buzz builds around Star Wars: The Force Awakens and the holiday shopping season.

Speaking during the Credit Suisse Technology, Media, and Telecom conference this week, Moore compared to Battlefront to Battlefield 4. There is one major exception, however, as Battlefield 4’s launch in October 2013 was marred by server struggles and other issues, the executive pointed out.

“The engagement levels are still in the millions of people playing every day on that title,” Moore said about Battlefield 4. “This is a game that, to be blunt, had a rocky start. But as the game has stabilized and as more content has become available, game sales have picked up and it is a very important part of our portfolio. I believe the same thing will happen with Star Wars Battlefront. Twelve months from now we’ll be sat here and we’ll be looking at the expansion packs we’ll deliver as part of that season pass having maintained and increased engagement and as a result, having sold more games.”

Battlefront is on pace to reach EA’s shipment projection of 13 million units initially, Moore reiterated. He went on to say that sales should be strong through the holidays and into the New Year.

“The movie [Star Wars: The Force Awakens], followed by the holidays, followed by consoles being wrapped under the tree and they want to play Star Wars and ‘Mom, go out and get that for me tomorrow,’ followed by gift card season in early January,” he said. “There’s a lot of beats to this particular title and it will have an incredibly long tail.”

In the same talk, Moore responded to GameStop management’s statement that Battlefront had underperformed. Moore said EA has seen “no weakness” so far, adding that GameStop’s comments came as somewhat of a surprise to EA.

Battlefront’s first expansion, Battle of Jakku, launched this week. The Force Awakens-inspired content is available now for people who preordered the game, while it’s scheduled to arrive for everyone on December 8. In all cases, it’s free.