Current Events > Next Battlefield will use a modern setting

(+) Yeah! (+)

Ahead of its Investor Day on September 17, EA revealed fresh details on its untitled Battlefield game alongside its first officially concept art, which IGN can exclusively reveal for the first time. IGN can also confirm that Battlefield will be returning to a modern setting after stints in World War I, World War II, and the near future.

While EA is cagey about specifics when it comes to the concept art, including declining to name of the city where its set (though it looks a lot like Italy, France, or somewhere else in Europe), it does include details that should stand out to longtime fans of the series. Among other things, it appears to suggest that ship-to-ship and helicopter combat will be part of the new game, and that it will feature natural disasters like wildfires. Its greyish color scheme is evocative of Battlefield 4, which remains one of the most popular games in the series despite being released a decade ago.

Battlefield goes back to basics

All of it points to a back-to-basics approach for the next Battlefield. Indeed, Head of Respawn & Group GM for EA Studios Organization Vince Zampella is quick to shout out Battlefield 3 and 4 in the course of sitting down with IGN to talk about these new reveals. On the decision to return to the modern era, Zampella says, "I mean, if you look back to the peak or the pinnacle of Battlefield, it's that Battlefield 3... Battlefield 4 era where everything was modern. And 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. 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...although I would say 1942 also."

The return to the modern setting represents a course correction for the series after Battlefield 2042, which eventually found its footing but was otherwise widely panned for features like Specialists characters that made it seem as if Battlefield was trying to be a hero shooter. Its ambitious 128-player maps also proved unpopular with fans who preferred a more focused experience. Battlefield 2042 eventually went back to supporting 64 players per maps, and the next Battlefield plans to stick to that approach.
I'd rather have nice, dense, really nice, well-designed play spaces. Some of them are really good


"Yeah, the 128 player, did it make it more fun? Like...doing the number for the sake of the number doesn't make any sense. We're testing everything around what's the most fun. So like you 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," Zampella says. "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.

Specialists are also out this time around. "So I wasn't there for 2042. I don't know what the rationale was, but for me, it's like the team tried something new. 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. So classes are kind of at the core of Battlefield, and we're going back to that," Zampella says.

He's careful to stress that Battlefield 2042 wasn't a "failure of a game" despite not doing as well as hoped. He notes that the development team "really spent a lot of time learning how to adapt it and getting things back." Still, he says, EA doesn't want a repeat of the experience it had with 2042. "We want it to be good out of the gate."

https://www.ign.com/articles/exclusive-first-battlefield-concept-art-revealed-vince-zampella?utm_source=twitter

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/8/89dc71d7.jpg

Can they please, please stop blue-balling fans and just make a proper 2142 sequel with titan mode back?

I was playing BF1 last night, still fucking great

I know I shouldn't but it's Battlefield so probably Day 1 purchase

I hope they stop trying to make it look like Call of Duty with the insanely overpopulated screens before you hop into a match

On the decision to return to the modern era, Zampella says, "I mean, if you look back to the peak or the pinnacle of Battlefield, it's that Battlefield 3... Battlefield 4 era where everything was modern.

No lies detected though of course BF2 is the most memorable to me

Bad Company bump

https://youtu.be/6xVshMgaM4Y

s0nicfan posted...

Can they please, please stop blue-balling fans and just make a proper 2142 sequel with titan mode back?

Why they didn't do that in the first place still ticks me off.

I wonder what trend they'll be chasing several years too late this time around
BFV had its absolutely failure of a battle royale mode in Firestorm
2042 tried to pretend it was a hero shooter with every fourth person playing the same character

It's a safe option which I'm fine with. The more troubling part is talking about going back to 3 and 4 like it's the glory days when those games had and created most of the problems that are still with the franchise. Just strip the whole thing down to the bones and rebuild.