Present on site, IGN reports that Battlefield will return to a modern setting after successively crossing the First World War (Battlefield 1), the Second World War (Battlefield V) and the near future (Battlefield 2042). A concept art was shared to give a taste of the battles, land, sea and air, that will take place, not to mention this forest fire which could suggest the presence of natural disasters.
In charge of turning around the franchise with former Call of Duty general manager Byron Beede, Vince Zampella cited Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4 as a reference point during his interview with IGN. The co-founder of Respawn Entertainment and Infinity Ward believes that these episodes represent the high point of the franchise. If you look at the peak of Battlefield, it’s the Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4 era, where everything was modern. I think we need to get back to the core of what Battlefield is and do it incredibly well, and then we’ll see where that takes us. But I think for me, the peak of Battlefield is the Battlefield 3 and 4 era. I think it’s nostalgic for players, for me, for teams even. It’s kind of the golden age… but I would also say 1942. “As a former rival of the franchise he now oversees, Vince Zampella’s words carry weight: in November 2011, Battlefield 3 was pitted against the monster Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 developed by his studio Infinity Ward (even though he and co-founder Jason West were fired by Activision for “insubordination” in March 2010).
For the moment, nice words
The era is not the only breaking point that the next Battlefield, still untitled, will exercise to move away from Battlefield 2042. Exit the Specialists, a system too related to the genre of the hero shooter. ” I wasn’t there for 2042, but to me it felt like the team tried something new. That’s a credit to the team. It didn’t appeal to everyone, but it’s worth a try. It didn’t work. It didn’t fit. Specialists aren’t coming back. So classes are the heart of Battlefield, and we’re going back to that. ” explains Zampella.
Also gone are the 128-player battles, which are unnecessarily ambitious and messy. We’re building something that’s more akin to previous Battlefield games. I prefer to have beautiful, dense, really beautiful, well-designed play spaces. Some of them are really great. I can’t wait for you to check them out. “, adds Vince Zampella. The latter emphasizes that Battlefield 2042 is not a “failed game” and still praises the will to have wanted to do something different. However, it is out of the question for Electronic Arts to repeat the experience lived with this opus, probably the most criticized in the history of the series. ” We want the game to be good from the start “.
As a reminder, this new episode benefits from the joint efforts of four studios: DICE, Ripple Effect, Motive and even Criterion. Ridgeline Games also participated in its development before being closed after the departure of its founder Marcus Lehto. If multiplayer remains the pillar of the game’s sustainability, solo should find a more important place. A studio like Motive was also called in for reinforcement for its experience in storytelling. IGN concludes its article by specifying that the development of the game entered full production at the beginning of the year. According to Zampella, EA ” test the game every week ” and plans to launch a community program next year, although it’s unclear whether it’s a closed beta or something else. A 2025 launch seems plausible, but still far from confirmed.
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