Recent leaks have emerged, telling the real story behind EA's studio restructuring. I'm afraid we've got bad news for long-term Battlefield fans...
Do you hate the direction Battlefield 2042 has taken the franchise? Do you hope the next game goes back to being a “classic Battlefield”? Then we've got some bad news for you. Battlefield 2042 was merely a “stepping stone” on the road to a new era of Battlefield games.
The Future of the Battlefield Franchise
After Battlefield 2042's abysmal launch, EA restructured their studios and announced a long-term plan to save the franchise. We broke down their announcement in full in this article, but we'll bring you up to speed again so that this next leak about Specialist's and the role they have to play in the future makes sense. Basically, a lot of people have been let go, they've hired someone new to lead the franchise, and they're going to do the following with the game:
- They're opening a new studio to focus on narrative experiences.
- The devs that built Portal are going to work on something else for Battlefield 2042 (almost certainly a BR).
- Battlefield is going to become a constantly updated live game, with its own “Battlefield Universe”.
So you shouldn't expect a new Battlefield game, set in a new era, to be waiting for you in 2023. Those days are behind us. Instead, they're going to build on what 2042 has set up.
A Hero Shooter with a Battle Royale
Despite the announced changes above, which have potential, one element of the game isn't going to change: Specialists. Now, Specialists are almost unanimously despised by Battlefield fans, and from as soon as they were announced, they became a focal point for the community's disappointment in the game.
Why? Because Specialists fly in the face of everything we've come to love about Battlefield; this is a franchise that's known for being gritty, and realistic — you live and die as a grunt. Whereas Specialists are super-soldiers and have carton origin stories. Unfortunately, though, Specialists will define the “Battlefield Universe” going forward, according to this leak:
The next Battlefield title is scoped as a hero shooter of sorts - It's not a removal of specialists, but an enhancement of them. #Battlefield2042 has always been intended to be a stepping stone to a "hero shooter" with a Battle Royale - It was just executed poorly.
— Tom Henderson (@_Tom_Henderson_) December 3, 2021
Tom Henderson is a well known insider, and so we're fairly certain this is the case. Sorry everyone.
Maybe we'll warm to Specialists, who knows? In our recent group interview with the biggest names from the Battlefield scene, some of those guys made good arguments for Specialists.