According to industry analyst Michael Pachter, EA says Battlefield 4 Kotaku reports Pachter relayed the news to both investors and media on Friday. Rumors have swirled for some time stating the Battlefield franchise would move into a yearly release schedule, similar to Call of Duty.

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"Although they have not yet announced a version of Battlefield for [fiscal year 2015], they confirmed that our understanding is spot on and that if a version of Battlefield were to be released in FY:15, it would be developed by a studio other than DICE," said Pachter.EA's fiscal year 2015 runs from April 2014 through the end of March 2015. Of course, this doesn't mean a different developer isn't working on a sequel to Battlefield 4 for next year. DICE has previously announced Star Wars Battlefront and Mirror's Edge 2 are in the pipeline for the studio.But with two more titles on deck, DICE is facing considerable upheaval over the server issues in Battlefield 4 . This week, an EA representative said work on future projects is on hold while DICE sorts out the current problems.

Matt Clark is a freelance writer covering the world of videogames, tech, and popular culture. Follow him on Twitter @ClarkMatt and MyIGN at Matt_Clark