DICE is making a new team to co-develop the single-player portion of its next Battlefield game with Ridgeline Games.
Speaking to GamesIndustry, DICE’s general manager Rebecka Coutaz explained that the move “arms our global teams with the resources they need early on. […] Now, we are able to expand opportunities and benefit from new talent that will help Ridgeline write the next chapter for the franchise.”
Ridgeline was formed in October 2021 by ex-Bungie developer Marcus Lehto. In mid-2022, EA announced the studio would be working on the solo experience for DICE’s next Battlefield, as part of a larger effort to expand the popular shooter series beyond its original developer.
2021’s Battlefield 2042 notably lacked a single-player campaign, and though EA hasn’t given specifics on the franchise’s next outing, bringing that mode back has become a notable talking point.
In that same interview, Lehto said Ridgeline and DICE’s collaboration would lead to “a single-player campaign that will engage players in new ways while also remaining true to the classic elements of what makes Battlefield truly unique.”
EA tries to get Battlefield ready for the shooter battlegrounds
For several years and games now, the Battlefield franchise has been in a strange place.
Beyond Battlefield 2042 and its launch issues, the series’ more recent outings have occasionally struggled to have a solid footing in the same way that the Call of Duty series has. Sony even used EA’s shooter as an example of how it would be effectively impossible to create a proper Call of Duty rival.
Earlier in the month, Battlefield hit a further setback when development of its mobile spinoff was canceled.
EA may have a saving grace in the form of Vince Zampella. The Respawn Entertainment co-founder was made into Battlefield’s manager in late 2021, and he talked about a desire to create a “connected Battlefield universe” that would lead to multiple games split between single-player and the franchise-essential multiplayer.
It isn’t impossible for Battlefield to come out of the hole it’s dug itself into, but it’ll take some time and patience on the part of its player base and mainly EA.