Launching last year, EA and DICE's World War 1 shooter Battlefield 1 has proven to be incredibly popular. Battlefield 1 has 21 million players across the globe, with players enjoying its multiplayer and the insight it offers into the monstrosities of the Great War. So it may come as a surprise, then, that the next Battlefield game is already in the works.

During the company's most recent financial call,  EA CEO Andrew Wilson revealed that next year, the company will "continue delivering for our Battlefield fans, including the next great game in the franchise." With all of EA's top franchises, the focus is on "advancing the state-of-the-art in games for players on every platform" including "delivering new and compelling ways to discover, engage and enjoy games."

The confirmation that a new Battlefield game is in development raises a lot of questions, namely what will happen to Battlefield 1. Later this year, the game will add Russian content with the In The Name of the Tsar expansion DLC and at Gamescom 2017, EA will also detail a new eSports game mode as well as new maps.

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Wilson also called it the "richest Battlefield experience" yet. However, in less than a year's time, EA will probably begin hyping the next Battlefield game and fans will want to know why it's worth continuing to spend money on Battlefield 1 when the game may not have much of a future left.

Another question is what the new Battlefield game will use as its focus. Many appreciated Battlefield 1's World War 1 theme, as it is a conflict that doesn't always get the video game treatment, but would EA and DICE stick to it and find more ways to show the conflict? But that comes with the risk of boring players and having them feel as though it's Battlefield 1.5 rather than a full follow up.

If the backlash to Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (a Battlefield 1 rival) is any indication, fans have also grown cold on shooters that are too futuristic. But on the other hand, the World War 2 setting of this year's Call of Duty: WW2 could also mean that fans could be fatigued if another blockbuster first-person shooter about WW2 released just a year later. The setting of the new Battlefield is up in the air, then, along with its name (Battlefield 2? Battlefield 6?) but as fans of the series wait for more official information, Battlefield 1 will have enough to keep them occupied.