The next iteration in the Battlefield series will be returning to the setting of the games’ peak popularity: the present day.
In an interview with IGN, Vince Zampella, the head of Respawn, said, “if you look back to the peak or the pinnacle of Battlefield, it’s that Battlefield 3… Battlefield 4 era where everything was modern.”
Battlefield 3 and 4 were arguably the height of the series’ popularity, with campaigns set around modern, urban conflicts and multiplayer maps with dense and destructible environments. The latest game, Battlefield 2042, takes place in the near future, features bigger, more desolate maps, and launched to lukewarm fan reception.
“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, Zampella said. “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.”
The series was also incredibly popular in its World War 1 and 2 periods. It started off with Battlefield 1942, and in the 2010s returned to the World Wars with Battlefield 1 and V.
“We’re testing everything around what’s the most fun,” Zampella 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. 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.”
The next Battlefield game entered full production earlier this year and could be aiming for a 2025 release. It’s being developed by developers at DICE, Motive, Ripple Effect, and Criterion.
In other news, EA Sports FC 25 has released its new soundtrack, an iconic staple of the series.