Battlefield is a prominent and important series in the history of first-person shooters, but it's probably fair to say it's lost its way somewhat over the last few entries. The latest game, Battlefield 2042, released a few weeks ago, and is getting a lot of flack from fans because of various design decisions and technical issues. While DICE and other associated studios are working to improve the game, publisher EA has bigger plans for the franchise as a whole; it wants to create a "connected Battlefield universe".
Recent leadership changes mean that Vince Zampella, head of Respawn Entertainment, will be spearheading the development and growth of Battlefield going forward. In an interview with GameSpot, he explains that, as well as updating 2042, EA will be expanding on the franchise in many ways.
"We will continue to evolve and grow Battlefield 2042, and we'll explore new kinds of experiences and business models along the way that we can add to that foundation to provide an awesome array of experiences for our players," Zampella says. "In this universe, the world is interconnected with shared characters and narrative. This universe is also built with our community as we harness the power of Portal and user generated content that puts creativity in the hands of our players."
Battlefield Mobile is just one example of how the franchise will expand outwards. Additionally, a new studio headed up by Marcus Lehto — known for his work on the Halo series — is leading a focus on characters, world-building, and narrative experiences within Battlefield games.
It sounds like it's early days on this connected universe plan, but we're certainly interested to see where it takes the franchise. Perhaps a more unified approach is exactly what it needs. What do you make of all this? Blow something up in the comments section below.
[source gamespot.com]
Comments 36
How about making a good game first?
Next up:
Call of Duty to Become a Connected Universe with Multiple Games and Experiences
Tired of all the greed and resulting rubbish decisions from these huge companies. My resolution for 2022 regarding gaming is to go for more indie games...simply more heart and soul in those games.
Fix the one that just came out first.
What good is that going to do if they can't even make decent mainstream Battlefield titles anymore?
@The_Moose they've already got CoD: Mobile and Warzone. The future is now
Lol, to each his own but Battlefield is wack now. AAA gaming in general is trash, especially online multiplayer games. It's a cash grab for kids and mindless consumers.
Really wanted Battlefield 2042 to be good...was going to buy it because I have had enough of cod.....but it's so meh...it feels more like cod than ever but somehow worse than cod....it no longer has the weight or the slightly more realistic feel to it
Jump from WWI to 2042 in a live service type game? - nobody cares, just want a good shooter with sexy destruction
What a terrible idea, obviously led by some marketing board decision.
To echo a comment from above, just make a good game first please.
Yikes…
Life was easier with Battlefield 3, 4 & 1
@StylesT You did choose are terrible time to jump ship with this terrible trainwreck of a game.
@themcnoisy Maybe in 2 years it will be fixed but dont worry the fans will fund it. Can you blame these developers the customer will accept everything.
broken mess, the angry Joe review is hilarious
Everybody asks for a new Bad Company yes lets get rid of the Campaing and make it liveservice. Triple A is dead especially anything with a multiplayer. But with so many reviewers dont show that they all act like we buy demo's to be finished in the future if we are lucky. Keep preordering these "games".
I have one message
Connected but no campaing Zampella
Just reading this makes me furious... Business model... lol... everything was fine. Just make a FULL game and then make ADDITIONAL dlcs with new maps, weapon, technic. They already did it fine with bf3, 4 and 1. Why tarnishing and destroying what worked for years? No one asked for that bs. Seems like that BF is dead and its better to just play older titles then showing our money into mouths of greedy ea.
When I was a small child it would keep me up on Christmas Eve thinking about which business models Santa would bring me.
Yikes. At this point, the only positive about this game are the first trailers.
Massively Expanded Universe (with micro transactions, anti-happiness software, hypnotizing flashes, full NRA support, full subscription or we kill your device license agreement, mandatory you agreed to our service for your soul).
Blockchain and NFTs incoming.
They should have just made it free to play. That would make more sense for what this series has become.
All these broken, boring, uninspired games coming from the big publishers these days have really slowed down my new purchases lately. I've actually bought a Gamecube to catch up on a few games I missed back in the day. I can't see myself going near anything current until Elden Ring drops. I'm just so turned off current gaming right now😐
Generally a bit fed up of all these shared/connected universes which are popular in media in recent times.
Can't say this news tempts me to try out the latest Battlefield game any time soon.
Thank goodness for hell let loose. The shining light in the seas of *****.
I'd bought 90 quids worth of psn credit for 2042. Thankfully I never bothered to buy it. RIP BF. RIP DICE.
Shared characters? Like who exactly?
The only characters I cared about were the ones from Bad Company 1+2, and to be honest I would much rather that the current incarnation of Dice stayed away from those games.
Companies make an "Expanded Universe" when each individual component isn't good enough to work on it's own.
It's also designed to induce Fear Of Missing Out but I suspect people care more about the fate of Iron Man in Avengers than they do about the tank in Apex Legends. I doubt this will work on these fairly generic video game franchises.
Though I suppose Smash Bros. proves me wrong.
This seems to be following the eternal trend of getting creative with business models when they've run out of creativity for game design.
@KippDynamite To be fair, that was the entire point of Smash and didn’t affect the narrative of any of the games it was in.
Maybe Battlefield should start by maintaining core gameplay systems and expanding and improving on them instead of stripping them out or replacing them entirely with lesser, worse versions.
I used to play Battlefield games for the destruction and the team play elements of their class system. Now both those things have been scaled back each entry (or replaced) and, for me, the series has lost its entire identity. It is a thorough also-ran. Other than player count, it does nothing that can't be experienced in more competent packages.
This is what happens when you hire candy crush and fortnight developers to lead your franchise!
I haven't played this new Battlefield but from some videos it seems like it took some inspirations from Fortnite, that's great and all but Fortnite players aren't going to drop their game for cheap imitations.
🤦♂️ Just make a solid shooter ffs.
Look at the mess this ‘connected universe’ has created in Warzone. No one cares about the story, its ridiculous.
Why not fix the train wreck you pushed out the door first EA?
Lol. Might have been better if they didn't release a steaming turd before announcing this...
@Juanalf
I hate the operator system all of these shooters are going for now.
Bring back nameless soldiers. Or let us create our own soldiers. Give me real factions with proper uniforms.
All of this nonsense is designed to sell skins. That’s all it’s for.
This is how the Battlefield franchise finally dies, chasing trends. Feel bad for BF1942 which as a bonafide groundbreaking masterpiece.
Rumor has it that if you combine them all you'll have one complete game that justifies a $60 price tag
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