More and more big names are leaving the Battlefield IP or even Electronic Arts itself.
The latest to leave is Craig Morrison. He was previously creative director at Electronic Arts’ DICE studio, and according to his LinkedIn profile, he left in February to take the same position at another Stockholm studio, Blue Scarab Entertainment. It’s a new team, and we’re sure to hear about their first project soon, so it’s a safe bet that Morrison will be working on it. Prior to DICE, Morrison spent nine years at Funcom (where he was creative director of their Montreal studio) and almost eight years at Blizzard, where he was a lead designer on World of Warcraft for almost two years.
Morrison joined DICE as Creative Director in August 2021 and held the same role for the studio in 2022. Three months after Morrison joined DICE, Electronic Arts announced plans to create an interconnected Battlefield universe while making significant changes to the franchise’s development structure. As a result, former creative director Lars Gustavsson left DICE after 22 years (!) and the role of franchise lead was taken over by Respawn Entertainment and Infinity Ward co-founder Vince Zampella.
Electronic Arts recently closed Ridgeline Games, which it created in 2021 to work on a single-player Battlefield. Shortly before that news, Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto left the company, citing personal reasons. Electronic Arts has laid off about 700 people (5% of the company’s workforce). Battlefield will be led by Vince Zampella and Byron Beede, and the single-player project has not been abandoned, as it will be co-developed by DICE. DICE is also working on a multiplayer experience for the franchise, and Los Angeles-based Ripple Effect is working on a completely different project within the IP.
The question is whether there will be people left for Battlefield, because we doubt it.
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