Former EA DICE dev claims that 98% of developers working on Battlefield 7 didn't work on previous series' installments
A former EA DICE employee spoke about the causes of problems at EA DICE studio and what the future of the Battlefield series would look like.
98% of the team developing the new Battlefield didn't work on any of the previous installments of the series.
Such information was provided by Rizible, claiming to be a former employee of EA DICE. The alleged developer shared that in reference to the presentation of Electronic Arts' financial results as part of the "investor day" a few months ago. This also provided details about the publisher's long-term plans, including Battlefield, with its new installment set to begin "community testing at the start of 2025."
EA headquarters kept at a distance
This info sparked - as Rizible described in a post on BlueSky - "a lot of hype," but fans of the series remain doubtful about whether the devs will fulfill their promises and truly prioritize the players' expectations. Rizible's information about the fate of EA DICE since its purchase by Electronic Arts in 2006 has certainly not improved their mood.
According to the internet user, Patrick Soderlund, the former head of EA studios, took care of DICE's interests for 15 years, showing favoritism towards the developer. This was so important because - according to the creator - studios belonging to Electronic Arts can "survive" only when the management of these can "prevent the EA headquarters from interfering in the creative, technical, and business decisions" of the team, which Rizible clearly described as "micro-managing to death."
Rizible blames such "interference" for the issues faced by many studios acquired by EA, including Maxis, PopCap, BioWare, and Criterion. However, DICE had more luck, which was partly due to the success of Battlefields. But only for so long.
2 years, 3 Soderlund's failures
In 2016, there were changes in the management of EA DICE: Patrick Bach left the studio as the last manager before the team was taken over by Electronic Arts. This coincided with the upcoming release of Star Wars: Battlefront - a launch that generated big controversy and didn't achieve the level of success the publisher had hoped for.
Not long after, Mass Effect Andromeda was released, which is also hard to consider an unequivocal success. As Rizible put it, this was the second failure of the project supervised by Soderlund within 2 years.
At the same time, EA DICE was already working on Battlefield 5 and Soderlund actively engaged in that. He wanted the fifth part to repeat the success of the previous, pre-war installment of the series.
In fact, Soderlund's push for nearly "physical" realism redirected EA DICE's resources away from the "critical density" required to finish BF V. Furthermore, this led to the infamous game trailer, ironically criticized by players for its lack of realism and "respect" for World War 2.
The rest is history. BF 5 faced a month-long delay, was released in poor condition (becoming the worst-selling entry in the series), and Soderlund left Electronic Arts following the third failure.
EA DICE fell out of favor
Soderlund's departure could be considered good news after the problems with Battlefront 2 and Battlefield 5 - until we remember his "favoritism" towards the studio. After two controversial games, DICE's budget was cut, and the DICE L.A. division was renamed Ripple Effect Studios and handed over to Vince Zampella, the head of Respawn Entertainment.
Moreover, his new studio Embark began "poaching" DICE employees (although some of them had a dislike for Soderlund because of BF 5), and many other Battlefield veterans also left the team. They drew in numerous former colleagues: artists, designers, programmers, and so on.
After that, the situation of the studio didn't improve at all. The launch of Battlefield 2042 mirrored the BF V release and signaled the departure of Oskar Gabrielson, who had been EA DICE's leader for only 5 years. This was also the last chance for the studio, and after that, the EA managers began to implement what they had been considering for a long time: transforming Battlefield in the style of the Call of Duty series.
Battlefield (almost) like CoD
Although in theory Battlefield was treated by players as the rival of Activision's series, both cycles differed significantly in terms of gameplay - and, of course, sales results. The recent failures of DICE and the departure of Sonderlund gave the management of Electronic Arts a pretext to bring their shooter series closer to the competitive series.
The result was handing over Battlefield to the care of Byron Beede, a Call of Duty veteran (via IGN), as well as the idea of co-creating the series by EA DICE and Ripple Effect studios and a new team, Ridgeline (similar to CoD teams Treyarch, Infinity Ward, and Sledgehammer).
However, for the veterans of the series who still remained at EA DICE, this loss of control over the brand was the last straw and they also left the studio (some of them joined old friends at Embark Studios, others founded TTK Games).
Furthermore, EA's plans have seemingly been disrupted by the pandemic and the ongoing crisis in the gaming industry. Ridgeline has been shut down (or at least it hasn't reopened its offices), and its CEO left Electronic Arts, certainly not with a good attitude towards his former employer. The series is now overseen by DICE, Ripple Effect Studio, Criterion, and EA Motive, and the new game is set to be released in October 2025.
Quite an exaggeration?
It's important to note that this doesn't mean that 98% of Battlefield developers have left EA DICE, as Rizible clearly accounted for the employees from other studios assisting with the new game.
Of course, there is also the issue of the credibility of this information. David Sirland, the main developer of Battlefield (who returned to EA at the end of 2022), confirmed that Rizible's description isn't far from the truth "historically," but not necessarily in terms of cause and effect. Some online users think the former developer went too far and point to many series veterans still employed, either at EA DICE or Ripple Effect Studios.
Corporate people and return to the roots
Nonetheless, Rizible's thread on BlueSky sparked lively discussions among fans. Some aren't at all surprised by this information and clearly have strong doubts about the future of the series after BF 2024. Even more cautious players, who don't cross out the seventh installment, have concerns. Especially in the context of the claim that EA executives were "corporate people without exception," focused on making games to profit from them, rather than earning money by creating quality games.
Nonetheless, some internet users have more faith in Battlefield 7 - at least they either don't trust Rizible, or they point to his plan to return to the roots of Battlefield in the new installment of the series. The "safe" option is also indicated by the fact that Vince Zampella confirmed a long time ago the return of elements known from Battlefield 3 and 4, including the class system.
Some players also point to the aforementioned return of Sirland, which was supposed to bring back other former Battlefield developers as well. This gives them hope that the seventh part is managed by those who have delivered more successful entries in the series compared to the recent games.
Of course, this is all just speculation. So far, Electronic Arts has only shown a few concept graphics for the new Battlefield, and the latest official information appeared in mid-November. Only the official announcement and gameplay trailer will show in which direction the new installment of the series will go.
