Can EA’s big-budget gamble pay off?

“A new competitor has emerged.”

In the highly competitive world of video games, it’s common for new contenders to fade away as soon as they appear on the scene.

But Battlefield 6 hopes to change that.

It’s the latest entry in a long-running military shooter series that’s often framed as a grittier, more realistic answer to Call of Duty.

The title has never been able to keep up with its more popular competitor in terms of sales or players, but there are signs that the new installment may close the gap.

The weekend that gave players the opportunity to experience the game earlier this year broke records, and the hype leading up to its launch was huge.

But the project is still a big gamble for publisher Electronic Arts (EA), which is said to have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to make it.

BBC Newsbeat spoke to some of the manufacturers to find out how they hope it will pay off.

Four EA-owned studios are working on the game under the Battlefield Studios banner.

They include original series developer Dice, based in Sweden, Motive Studios in Los Angeles, and Ripple Effect Studios in Canada.

The fourth company, Criterion, is located in Guildford, United Kingdom.

Rebecca Kotaz is the general manager of the two European studios, and she told Newsbeat that in terms of what it offers players, “Battlefield 6 is probably unbeatable.”

The game comes on the back of the futuristic Battlefield 2042, which was released four years ago to a negative reception that it has struggled to recover from.

“We may not have been able to create and develop Battlefield 6 without the lessons we learned in Battlefield 2042,” Rebecca told Newsbeat.

One of those lessons was to get fans involved early, and the team launched invitation-only community playtests earlier this year.

“The feedback has been very positive,” says Rebecca.

Another missing element in Battlefield 2042 is the single-player campaign, which has been restored this time around.

Standards Design Manager Fashat “Fez” Salem is responsible for “making sure those missions are as fun and interesting as possible for players.”

Despite claims that the size of the project It put pressure on different studios Collaborating across continents to build the game, Fez was positive about the process.

“Collaborating with different cultures and different backgrounds, it’s a really interesting environment to be involved in every day,” he says.

“This whole approach has been something new but really exciting because we work with people from all over the world.”

As for the expectations for the team, Vaas says: “There is pressure but it is also exciting.

“It’s a big project. Probably the biggest most of us have ever worked on.”

This certainly applies to at least one member of the team, lighting artist Vlad Kukan.

The 21-year-old creates the atmospheric effects that set the mood, tone and direction of the single-player campaign.

He completed his internship at Criterion before taking a job there, and is currently working part-time while earning a BA in Visual Effects at Bournemouth University.

Vlad says he’s a long-time fan of the Battlefield series, and remembers playing the fourth installment in the series at a friend’s house when he was younger.

Working on it now, as his first job in the industry, “doesn’t feel real.”

“It’s really crazy to see marketing everywhere,” he says.

“Knowing that I put my own spin on the game is really surreal.”

The launch of Battlefield 6 is expected to be a big event, with analysts predicting it will happen It sold up to five million copies in the first week.

But its true success in a volatile and unpredictable industry will not be clear for months, if not years.

To maintain momentum, you’ll need to attract players and keep them away from competitors including CoD, Fortnite, and Roblox.

But although the signs are promising, Rebecca is cautious when asked if she feels confident.

“I would say yes and no, you never know,” she says.

“The only thing that matters to me now – and I’ve been saying this for four years – is that we don’t let our community and our players down.”

Concerns about Battlefield’s future have also been raised by recent news that EA has agreed to sell the company to a group led by Saudi Arabia. For $55 billion (£41 billion).

EA took on $20bn (£14bn) in debt as part of the deal – known as a leveraged buyout – leading fans to fear cutbacks.

The company told its employees to expect “no immediate changes” to their jobs.

As for Battlefield 6, Rebecca told Newsbeat that the team will continue as planned, and has already shared details of monthly updates and content additions.

“I’m here to help our team members achieve the best in their careers, so the method hasn’t changed for me, the method remains the same,” she insists.

EA has been vocal about its plans to use generative AI in game development, and its potential new owners are betting on the technology to boost profits. According to the Financial Times.

The tools are controversial, sparking concerns from developers and backlash from some fans.

Rebecca told Newsbeat players won’t see anything made by GenAI inside Battlefield 6, but it is being used in the preparatory stages to “allow more time and space for creativity.”

Rebecca says GenAI is “very tempting,” but there’s currently no way to integrate it into a developer’s daily work.

However, she shares EA’s optimism about its potential.

“If we can break the magic with AI, it will help us be more innovative and creative,” she says.

In Vass’s opinion, GenAI is “nothing to be afraid of in our industry.”

“Especially since we work in a high-tech environment, we’re kind of used to things changing,” he says.

“It’s just a matter of how can we integrate that productively into our workflow, and how can we leverage that to take our games to the next level.”

Right now, the team’s focus is on stabilizing the Battlefield 6 release.

“We spend a lot of time behind closed doors making these things,” Vass says.

“But when it comes down to the players and you see them having a great time, people screaming, people excited, it’s something we’ve worked for years on.

“This is what most game developers are looking for. We just want to see people playing this game and then getting excited about it.”

Listen to Newsbeat He lives At 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays – or listen again here.