What just happened? The fallout from Battlefield 2042’s rocky launch continues as Electronic Arts is making sweeping changes that’ll affect the latest entry and the future of the franchise. For starters, DICE general manager Oskar Gabrielson is exiting after nearly a decade with the company.
On Twitter, he said the decision to leave was one of the hardest in his life but promised that there was plenty for gamers to look forward to on the Battlefield.
Gabrielson will be replaced by Rebecka Coutaz, the former studio director of Ubisoft Annecy.
Respawn CEO Vince Zampella will lead the Battlefield team moving forward, and newly hired Marcus Lehto of Halo fame will erect a new Seattle-based development team to help add more storytelling to the Battlefield universe.
EA told GameSpot that in the immediate future, DICE and Lehto’s new studio will work with developer Ripple Effect to improve Battlefield 2042. Ripple was responsible for the Portal game mode in Battlefield 2042.
Related reading: DICE’s head of design leaves studio in wake of Battlefield 2042’s launch
EA said it also aims to create a “connected Battlefield universe.” Zampella told GameSpot that they will continue to grow and evolve Battlefield 2042, in addition to exploring new types of experiences and business models along the way that 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.”
That’s kind of a vague description, but as the publication notes, this is likely due to how early into the process EA is. We do know that a mobile Battlefield game is in the cards, but aside from that, the roadmap is unclear.