EA DICE's recently-released Battlefield 2042 hasn't gotten off to the best of starts, with bugs and issues plaguing the game even after a few patches. But that hasn't stopped EA keeping the Battlefield conversation going, and it sounds like the publisher has big plans in store for the military shooter franchise.
As reported by Gamespot, a major shakeup is to occur for the Battlefield series. The immediate takeaways from this are the production of a new "Battlefield connected universe," as well as the placing of Respawn Entertainment head Vince Zampella at the helm.
However, Zampella himself was adamant that the company isn't washing its hands of Battlefield 2042 just yet.
"This is an 'And' strategy in many ways," Zampella told GameSpot. "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.
"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."
Besides that, not too many more details have been confirmed about this Battlefield connected universe, aside from a few potential game releases in the future. We know a Battlefield mobile game is on the horizon, being developed by Industrial Toys.
"We plan to grow Battlefield and meet players where they play through various experiences and business models, including our upcoming Battlefield Mobile coming in 2022 from Alex Seropian and Industrial Toys," Zampella said of the upcoming mobile title.
EA is also playing with the idea of a free-to-play Battlefield game, though specifics are thin on the ground at present.
Analysis: Is a Battlefield connected universe necessary?
It's actually quite easy to see EA's thinking behind announcing a Battlefield connected universe right now. Battlefield 2042, as mentioned, has been frustrating its player-base since launch with a variety of bugs and errors. It seems imperative, then, that the publisher would want to let its players know that it's dedicated to Battlefield.
On the other hand, these are just words, and likely a swiftly implemented PR move on EA's part to assuage fans' fears that the company isn't invested in the long-term health of the franchise. The existence of a Battlefield connected universe doesn't address the problems Battlefield 2042 is facing, but it sounds like support and bug fixes are still ongoing at least.
On the plus side, we can't think of a better choice to head up this large scale project than Vince Zampella. Arguably one of the most experienced first-person shooter developers in the field, Zampella previously headed up development of 2007's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, which is still arguably the best game in the series.
Not only that, but Respawn Entertainment has scored win after win in the years since its inception, knocking it out of the park with games like Titanfall, Titanfall 2, Apex Legends and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.
Hopefully, then, the Battlefield franchise will be in safer hands with Zampella in the cockpit. The series' massive-scale multiplayer warfare is arguably best in class – when it works, that is – offering something much larger than the typically condensed multiplayer matches found in rival games like Call of Duty Vanguard and Halo Infinite.
