Today Electronic Arts hosted its Investors Day and shared what’s next for the Battlefield franchise.
Following the admission during the livestreamed event that there have been Battlefield games that have not met the expectations of the fans, including Battlefield 2042, President of EA Entertainment and Technology Laura Miele boasted that the developers still made it right, delivering 7 seasons of content and leading to the acquisition of over 25 million players.
Moving on to the future of the series, we hear that EA made “significant shifts” to its approach to developing its next iterations. There are four fully resourced studios working on it and they’re taking more time in the development cycle Gameplay has been tested for the past year.
The project is led by Vince Zampella with Byron Beede as General Manager of the franchise. Beede himself took the stage and explained the studio structure working on the franchise.
DICE is working on multiplayer, Criterion Games is working on experiences across single-player and multiplayer, Motive is working on the storytelling, while Ripple Effect is working on a “unique Battlefield experience that is testing very well with players.”
All of these studios are “powered” by the Battlefield Central Tech Team and together they form the “largest, strongest, and most focused team in the history of Battlefield.”
Beede added that the developers have “huge ambitions” and don’t take the responsibility of entertaining hundreds of millions of players lightly. They’re “Hungry and focused” and operating in new ways, which is showing results.
They have a culture of “rapid iteration to find great gameplay,” which is Vince Zampella’s hallmark.
To “find the fun” the teams are in a cycle of prototyping, playtesting, and receiving feedback over and over again. This is their fundamental philosophy and “has been incorporated through every area of Battlefield.” Beede added that the developers are “obsessed with finding the fun.”
They’re building a “connected universe set in the modern day, filled with Battlefield experiences,” all built with Battlefield’s DNA. Beede reiterated that the game has been played internally nearly daily for well over a year.
The studios have prioritized their “Keep Green Initiative” focusing on software stability so that the game is always playable and always available for playtesting, which results into more iteration cycles. In addition to these internal testing cycles, testing is also already being conducted with players.
A “large-scale community-driven testing program” is coming in early 2025. When that happens, developers expect to receive significantly more feedback on gameplay, performance, and fun factor.
If you’re interested in first-person shooters, you can also check out our interview about Team Jade’s upcoming Delta Force.
