EA Begins Dropping Details on Next Battlefield Game [CNET]

Like Battlefield 3 and 4, the next game in the series will take place in a modern-day setting.

It’s unclear how soon you might get your hands on a new Battlefield game, but the head of one of the studios behind the series has started revealing details about what that game will be. Vince Zampella, co-founder and head of Respawn Entertainment, told gaming site IGN in an interview published Monday that the next game in the long-running series will be set in a modern era and will be more closely modeled after Battlefield 3 and 4, two of the most well-regarded Battlefield games.

Respawn and EA, the publisher that owns the studio, shared with IGN a single piece of concept art for the game, which doesn’t yet have a title or release date, that appears to show war tearing apart a coastal city, with a nearby area ablaze. The first game in the franchise, Battlefield 1942, launched in 2002 for Windows and Mac. 

The interview took place ahead of EA’s Investor Day on Tuesday, an annual event in which the company talks with financial analysts about its long-term plans.

In the interview, Zampella acknowledged the problems EA had with its last game in the franchise, Battlefield 2042, which was released in 2021 with major technical problems. The game is now considered a low point in the series.

Zampella said the new game will likely have smaller, denser maps and will eschew 128-player matches for 64-player battles while it focuses on core gameplay. It will also go without specialist roles in favor of traditional classes. 

“It’s like the team tried something new (with specialists),” he told IGN. “You have to applaud that effort. Not everybody liked it, but you got to try things. It didn’t work. It didn’t fit. Specialist will not be coming back.”

Zampella specifically mentioned 2011’s Battlefield 3 and 2013’s Battlefield 4 as models for the new game; both of those games were set in modern times and were generally well regarded by fans and critics.

As to when the game might be released, Zampella said it’s currently being play-tested, which suggests this new Battlefield game might be available as early as next year. He said that a community program around the game will launch in 2025, but didn’t specify what that would entail.