Vince Zampella, the head of Respawn Entertainment and Ripple Effect Studios, is now leading the Battlefield franchise per a report from GameSpot.
The announcement was made today, alongside other tidbits regarding the future of Battlefield. The biggest of which may be the departure of Oskar Gabrielson, former DICE GM, from Electronic Arts.
“A winter just like this 13 years ago I stepped into the DICE studio pitching a new way to play Battlefield games,” Oskar states in the beginning of a Twitter thread. “That pitch later bec[a]me what we know as Battlelog. Little did I Know I would spend the next decade with these amazing game creators.”
Gabrielson’s departure comes at a time where Battlefield’s status as a gaming franchise is rocky, at best. The release of Battlefield 2042 has not been met well by critics and fans alike. Vince Zampella has enjoyed a track record of leading successful franchises at both Infinity Ward, helping to create Dall of Duty what it is today, as well as Respawn Entertainment.
In addition, EA announced the desire to create a connected Battlefield universe. Vince Zampella told GameSpot that the stated goal isn’t to replace 2042, but instead make a connected universe.
This is an ‘And’ strategy 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. 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.
Source: Vince Zampella to GameSpot
No specific plans were mentioned when it comes to what we’ll see from a connected Battlefield universe.