Peter Moore says EA would delay Star Wars Battlefront if it "isn't right"

Nobody likes it when games are delayed. But nobody likes the PC port of Batman: Arkham Knight, either. I think most of us would agree that the latter is worse than the former, but even so, games hitting the shelves in various states of not-quite-ready isn't as uncommon a phenomenon as it should be. Battlefield 4 was one such game: Not as disastrous as Arkham Knight, but still "unacceptable," as Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson said last year.

That could understandably lead to concerns about similar issues with the upcoming Star Wars: Battlefront, but Peter Moore, EA's chief operating officer, told MCV that the publisher wouldn't hesitate to push the game back if it has to, just like it did with Battlefield Hardline. "You can’t ship it if it doesn’t work or the quality isn’t right," he said. "You just bite the bullet. Trust me, shipping Hardline in March was not the easiest thing to do from a business perspective, but it was the right thing to do from a player perspective."

It's the sort of "gamers first" rhetoric you'd expect to hear from a game company executive, but it fits with Wilson's promise from last year of a "fundamental shift" in EA's approach to making games, which includes delaying titles that aren't ready for the big time. That could be placed into the "talk is cheap" category too, but sooner or later, EA is going to have to be credited for following through on its promises.

But there's apparently no need to worry about Star Wars: Battlefront, anyway: Moore said it's already "rock solid," even in 40-player matches, and so a delay "ain't going to happen." Assuming he's right, Star Wars Battlefront will be out on November 17.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.