Against the backdrop of the failed launch of Battlefield 2042, Electronic Arts announced the restructuring of DICE and shooter-related divisions. The global plan is to build your own universe within the franchise. We are talking about both entering the mobile market and the possible application of new business models to future brand games.Permutations
Oskar Gabrielson will leave the post of DICE General manager and leave EA.
- He called this decision “one of the most difficult in my life,” without going into details about future career plans.Gabrielson started his collaboration with DICE 13 years ago, being the co-founder of ESN.
- His team has developed Battlelog, a platform for managing game characters, searching for servers and tracking statistics. He took the position of DICE general manager in 2012 after EA bought ESN.From a lot of GameSpot material, it became known that Rebecka Coutaz, the former managing director of Ubisoft Annecy, will now lead the studio.
- Gabrielson will remain at DICE until the end of the year to help her settle into her new position.The Ubisoft Annecy portfolio includes Riders Republic and Steep.
- Prior to that, the studio, led by Kutaz, helped develop multiplayer modes for The Division, Assassin’s Creed and Ghost Recon: Wildlands.Marcus Lehto, one of the creators of Halo and the designer of the Master Chief, will develop the narrative part of the Battlefield franchise (various plots, character development, etc.). This will be handled by his studio in Seattle, which he announced in October.
- Finally, Vince Zampella will be personally responsible for the development of the entire Battlefield franchise.
- He is known as the co-founder of Respawn Entertainment and one of the authors of the early games of the Call of Duty series. At the same time, Zampella will remain the head of his studio, which will continue to support Apex Legends and develop new titles.“He has no equal in the ability to manage studios and unite developers, developing world-class games.
- I believe that the structures, processes and vision he has created will allow Battlefield to shine like never before. No one understands shooters better than Vince,” said Laura Miele, EA’s Chief Operating Officer.Zampella himself said that the company intends to significantly expand its staff to work on Battlefield.
- The Future of the Battlefield Franchise
EA is not going to stop supporting Battlefield 2042.
- Although the company recognizes that the shooter is far from the most successful launch, it still sees great potential in it.”We believe in Battlefield 2042.
- This is the cornerstone of the future that we will build by expanding the universe,” said Miles. According to her, EA makes a big bet on the franchise, throwing maximum resources at its development.Ripple Effect Studio, which developed the Portal mode for Battlefield 2042, has started working on a new project in the game universe.
- The team itself does not specify yet whether it will be another big mode or a separate title.The main goal of the company is to create a unified Battlefield universe.
- On paper, EA’s plan is similar to the strategy that Activision has chosen for Call of Duty, releasing large numbered parts annually and expanding the franchise thanks to CoD Mobile and the free-play Warzone.According to Zampella, this approach assumes the presence of many “and”.
- Among other things, we are talking about trying new business models in relation to the franchise in parallel.This year EA announced Battlefield Mobile, which is currently undergoing alpha testing in Indonesia and the Philippines.
- Earlier, EA CEO Andrew Wilson also noted that he does not rule out the appearance of a free-to-play franchise game in the future.Zampella refused to confirm or deny these words.
- He only stressed that the team is now considering all opportunities for brand development. According to Zampella, EA wants to create a universe in the center of which there would always be a player.Battlefield 2042 was released on November 19.
At the start, the project was heavily criticized by the players. They were dissatisfied with both numerous technical problems and the absence of some important features from previous titles. The peak online Battlefield 2042 on release reached the mark of 105 thousand simultaneous players. Soon it began to fall, and the user rating of the game on Steam now stands at 35% positive reviews.