Vince Zampella confirms new Battlefield game will have a modern setting, shares first concept art

Ahead of its Investor Day on September 17, EA revealed contemporary particulars on its untitled Battlefield game alongside its first formally concept art, which IGN can completely reveal for the first time. IGN may verify that Battlefield will be returning to a modern setting after stints in World War I, World War II, and the close to future.

While EA is cagey about specifics in terms of the concept art, together with declining to call of town the place its set (although it seems a lot like Italy, France, or someplace else in Europe), it does embody particulars that ought to stand out to longtime followers of the sequence. Among different issues, it seems to recommend that ship-to-ship and helicopter fight will be a part of the new game, and that it will characteristic pure disasters like wildfires. Its greyish coloration scheme is evocative of Battlefield 4, which stays one of the vital widespread video games within the sequence regardless of being launched a decade in the past.

Battlefield goes again to fundamentals

All of it factors to a back-to-basics strategy for the following Battlefield. Indeed, Head of Respawn & Group GM for EA Studios Organization Vince Zampella is fast to shout out Battlefield 3 and 4 in the middle of sitting down with IGN to speak about these new reveals. On the choice to return to the modern period, Zampella says, “I mean, if you look back to the peak or the pinnacle of Battlefield, it's that Battlefield 3… Battlefield 4 era where everything was modern. And I think we have to get back to the core of what Battlefield is and do that amazingly well, and then we'll see where it goes from there. But I think for me, it's that peak of Battlefield-ness is in that Battlefield 3 and 4 days. So I think it's nostalgic for players, for me, for the teams even. Those are kind of the heyday…although I would say 1942 also.”

The return to the modern setting represents a course correction for the sequence after Battlefield 2042, which finally discovered its footing however was in any other case extensively panned for options like Specialists — characters that made it appear as if Battlefield was making an attempt to be a hero shooter. Its formidable 128-player maps additionally proved unpopular with followers who most well-liked a extra centered expertise. Battlefield 2042 finally went again to supporting 64 gamers per maps, and the following Battlefield plans to stay to that strategy.

I'd reasonably have good, dense, very nice, well-designed play areas. Some of them are actually good

“Yeah, the 128 player, did it make it more fun? Like…doing the number for the sake of the number doesn't make any sense. We're testing everything around what's the most fun. So like you said, the maps, once they get to a certain scale, become different. It's a different play space, and I think you have to design around that. So we are designing something that is more akin to previous Battlefields,” Zampella says. “I'd rather have nice, dense, really nice, well-designed play spaces. Some of them are really good. I can't wait for you to see some of them.

Specialists are also out this time around. “So I wasn't there for 2042. I do not know what the rationale was, however for me, it is just like the staff tried one thing new. You have to applaud that effort. Not everyone appreciated it, however you bought to strive issues. It did not work. It did not match. Specialist will not be coming again. So lessons are type of on the core of Battlefield, and we're going again to that,” Zampella says.

He's careful to stress that Battlefield 2042 wasn't a “failure of a game” despite not doing as well as hoped. He notes that the development team “actually spent a lot of time studying tips on how to adapt it and getting issues again.” Still, he says, EA doesn't want a repeat of the experience it had with 2042. “We need it to be good out of the gate.”

It adds up to what one might call classic Battlefield, but bigger — big enough that it merits the efforts of four separate studios in DICE, Motive, Ripple Effect, and Criterion (Ridgeline Games was briefly part of its development before being shuttered after founder Marcus Lehto's departure). EA CEO Andrew Wilson claims it's one of the “most formidable tasks in [EA's] historical past.”

Nevertheless, Zampella remains vague on what all of that actually entails. “Yeah, it is undoubtedly betting larger on Battlefield. It's getting into and increasing what Battlefield is. We have to have the core. The core Battlefield gamers know what they need. They've been with us without end, they have been superb supporters. We have to earn their belief again and get them again on our facet. And then it is increasing out and getting extra gamers into the universe and seeing what we will do, so if you need a completely different expertise, you do not have to go away Battlefield. You can expertise extra issues inside the Battlefield universe. So we're increasing the choices that we're giving.”

The road ahead for Battlefield

In the meantime, Activision Blizzard is planning to release Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 — Battlefield's traditional competitor. Where Battlefield has stumbled, Call of Duty has largely continued to thrive. It begs the question: will Battlefield ever outsell Call of Duty?

“If you have a look at one of the best Battlefields have outsold some Call of Duties and different approach round, forwards and backwards. So I believe completely it may,” Zampella says. [Note: While sales data is incomplete, the publicly available data for even weaker releases like Infinite Warfare has typically favored Call of Duty]. “I imply, is that what we're going for? I imply, in a roundabout way, however at all times. We're not seeking to take down Call of Duty. We're making one thing that is completely different and we're making one thing that is us. But yeah, it undoubtedly has the likelihood.”

On the subject of pushing into the transmedia space, where franchises like The Last of Us and Fallout have thrived (the latter taking home an Emmy Award over the weekend), Zampella demurs.

“There are undoubtedly alternatives there. We've had some discussions, however it's not our core enterprise. To me, that stuff, when it really works, it is tremendous cool… Like Arcane was f*cking nice. But there's different ones that have not labored as properly and I will not title these, however you understand what they're,” he says. “It's a advertising alternative of getting your franchise on the market, and it is not core to what we're doing proper now. So we're game first. That has to work. And if the appropriate alternative comes, completely, we'll have a look at it. And can we take conferences on a regular basis? Sure. But it is not the core enterprise. So it is that steadiness. I might like to see it. Right now, we're not something like that for Battlefield.”

It's unclear when the next Battlefield will release, but there are signs that EA is ramping up for 2025, having entered full production earlier this year. According to Zampella, EA is “play testing the game each week” and plans to launch a community program next year, though it's unclear if it's a closed beta or something else.

I think we're in a really good place. Is it challenging? Of course, but it wouldn't be fun if it wasn't

“We have a program that we will announce subsequent 12 months round getting extra group in, as a result of that is type of the core of what we have to do — get the group again on our facet, get that belief again,” he says. “So I believe we're in a actually good place. Is it difficult? Of course, however it would not be enjoyable if it wasn't.”

Whenever Battlefield eventually releases, it'll be a big test for the series, which has a lot to prove to fans after close to a decade since its last really successful entry. It'll be entering an unsettled console landscape, with Sony announcing the PS5 Pro last week, rumors of a next-gen Xbox, and Nintendo expected to announce the Switch 2 soon. Zampella is broadly taking a “we'll see” approach to both the PS5 Pro and the unannounced Switch 2, though he has some kind words for Nintendo in particular.

“I imply, since [Switch 2] is not introduced and it would not exist, I am unable to actually touch upon that. But I might say completely, Nintendo, together with Microsoft and Sony are nice companions for us, are necessary to us on our enterprise at EA, at Respawn, would like to see it,” Zampella says. “We do not have something to announce, however is there a world? Sure. We love them as companions. They've been nice to us. I really like the [Switch].”

One way or another, EA is betting a huge amount of time, money, and manpower on the idea that the multiplayer shooter space is ready for a shakeup. As for whether that bet will pay off, it sounds like we'll know sooner rather than later.

Kat Bailey is IGN's News Director in addition to co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.