With the dawn of the next generation now less than two months away, EA’s CEO Peter Moore has addressed concern regarding the launch dates of particular titles on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Those titles in question include FIFA 14, Madden NFL 25 and Battlefield 4, whose release windows were clarified by the company’s chief operating officer in a recent blog post.
Like putting the cart before the horse, the publisher will release all three titles a full three days before the respective launch of Microsoft and Sony’s next-gen hardware in North America. Specifically, the software trio will debut on PlayStation 4 in the region on November 12th (29th in Europe) with the Xbox One versions shipping to retail in time for November 19th (21st in Europe). As such, if you pick up the next-gen iteration of either FIFA 14, Madden NFL 25 or Battlefield 4 upon launch, chances are you’ll be staring at the shrink wrap in anticipation for a couple of days.
To ease the transition to next-gen hardware, though, Moore has stated that EA will allow players to transfer all in-game progression from one generation of consoles to the next.
“Playing early on the Xbox 360 or PS3 means you will be able to learn maps, unlock items, and build stats in Battlefield 4; or create your Ultimate Teams and more in FIFA 14 and Madden NFL 25. You can then seamlessly carry over a lot of cool content from the current gen game to a new Xbox One or PS4 version to get a jump on the competition.”
We understand that the company will partner with select retailers to offer consumers a trade in program; where players can exchange the Xbox 360/PS3 version of the game plus a select fee for the respective Xbox One/PS4 version. Interestingly, it’s been reported that UK retailer Game will allow cross-platform exchange should you decide to switch your home console, though this will mean sacrificing your save files.
The Xbox One is slated for a global release on November 22nd, 2013, sandwiched in between the PlayStation 4’s launch agenda; which debuts in North America and Europe November 15th and 29th, respectively.
Tell us, which of these EA titles will you pick up upon launch? Let us know in the comments below.