Electronic Arts adds Motive Studio, the team behind it Star Wars: Squadrons and the 2023 remake of Empty room, to the list of developers working on the next Battlefield game. Byron Beede, General Manager of the Battlefield franchise, and Patrick Klaus, General Manager of Motive, announced the formation of a Battlefield-focused team at Motive on Tuesday – an announcement that also signaled the end of seasonal content for Battlefield 2042.
Motive will be one of four studios working on the Battlefield franchise, alongside DICE, Criterion and Ripple Effect. EA recently announced the closure of Ridgeline Games, a studio founded in 2021 to work on narrative Battlefield content. Some workers at Ridgeline were transferred to Ripple Effect.
“We have an ambitious vision to harness and realize the enormous potential of the series’ class-based squad play and immersive, intense combat,” Beede said, noting that several EA-owned studios are producing “connected multiplayer experiences and single-player” content evolve takes place in the Battlefield franchise.
Battlefield 2042The current and seventh season of “Turning Point” will be its last, Beede confirmed. “After the conclusion of Season 7, we will continue to support the game with new challenges, events, modes and of course ongoing maintenance, but we are moving away from providing official seasons,” he said. “We know this news may be disappointing. However, as we looked at what the future of the series required, we realized it was time for us to shift our resources and focus fully on what comes next.”
The Motive team working on Battlefield is led by Philippe Ducharme and Roman Campos-Oriola, directors of Battlefield Empty room new edition, You have Klaus.
Klaus noted that Motive’s previously announced Iron Man project will continue under the direction of Olivier Proulx and Ian Frazier. “Iron Man is an important priority for Motive and I am very proud of the work we have done so far,” said Klaus. The untitled Iron Man game was revealed in 2022 as “an all-new single-player third-person action adventure.” EA is also working with Marvel on a Black Panther game.
The formation of a Battlefield-focused team within Motive calls into question the future of the recently revived Dead Space series. Polygon reached out to EA to clarify what Tuesday’s announcement means for Dead Space, but a spokesperson referred us to Beede and Klaus’ statements. EA has not announced any other titles in development at Motive, including a possible remake of Dead Space 2.
Electronic Arts said in 2021, shortly after the launch of Battlefield 2042that it is handing over the reins of the Battlefield franchise to Vince Zampella, co-founder of Apex Legends and Titanfall developer Respawn Entertainment. A few months later, EA CEO Andrew Wilson described the change as part of a “rethinking.” [Battlefield] development process from the ground up” and a plan to build a “connected Battlefield universe”.
