Well-known publisher Electronic Arts (EA) opened to the public a job posting for a Design Director position, in what they call their “Battlefield Seattle Studio.” Here, it is stated that the team is “focused on building rich, exciting stories with memorable characters and powerful experiences all in the Battlefield universe.” Further on, when explaining the role overview, it’s stated more directly that they would “manage the design team and design vision of a new Battlefield campaign.”
Though little is known about this Seattle team, back in October of 2021, Marcus Lehto, co-creator of the Halo franchise and Art Director for the original trilogy, tweeted that he would be joining EA as a game director for a new Seattle studio that will work on first-person games. As time has gone on, it's become clear exactly what this studio will be doing.
Halo Reach. CREDIT: Bungie
Battlefield, EA’s staple FPS franchise, has been a big player in the genre since its inception in 2002. It has had many strong fan-beloved titles throughout the years. Its players often praise the series’ large-scale battles, as their high player count and vehicle combat better simulate real wars. Most recently, however, the series has been in hot water due to their latest release, Battlefield 2042, which launched in such a buggy state many deemed it unplayable.
2042 coincidentally also didn’t have a campaign, only multiplayer modes, a decision which was heavily criticised. Considering this, it’s good to see EA making a conscious effort to bring singleplayer back to the series. Whether this project will be some future downloadable content for 2042 or part of a completely new Battlefield game, is yet to be discerned, but it’s an interesting move for them to be designating the campaign to a separate studio.
Swedish studio DICE created the Battlefield series and has generally been the main developer behind the series. However, with 2042’s obvious faults, letting DICE focus purely on multiplayer while another team works on the campaign could end up being beneficial for the final product.
Since the Seattle studio is looking for a design director, it’s clear that this story mode is still in pre-production, and therefore not even close to completion, but this is still exciting. The first three Halo games, made by Bungie, are three of the most acclaimed first-person shooters of all time. That’s partly because of their multiplayer of course, but the campaigns cannot be undersold. Though Lehto is specifically Game Director, not Art Director, his presence could do wonders for Battlefield’s visuals, and the quality of their future campaigns in general.