Update - July 8: Ripple Effect general manager Christian Grass touched on the direction of the studio's "player-inspired" Battlefield 2042 experience during today's EA Play spotlight, confirming that it will in some way revisit maps from the series' history.
"I can't say that much about it," Grass said. "What I can say is that one of the components of this experience that we're creating is that we're adding some of the fan-favorite maps back into Battlefield 2042, but for the entire experience, you'll have to wait a bit longer before we reveal what that is."
This doesn't tell us how Ripple Effect's project will feel moment-to-moment, but it does at least give us some inkling as to what it will add to the Battlefield 2042 ecosystem, and nostalgic maps are pretty much always welcome in long running FPS franchises.
Original story - July 7:
Ripple Effect Studios is the new name for DICE LA, and its first project under the new name is creating a "player-inspired experience" for Battlefield 2042.
The developer revealed its new identity in the first post on its fresh studio site, where it also teased that it's "starting work on a yet-to-be announced project." DICE LA general manager Christian Grass will continue his leadership role, and the team will also welcome Respawn founder Vince Zampella in a manager position even as he continues to oversee work at the Apex Legends and Star Wars Jedi: Fall Order studio.
"We're so proud of our work as DICE LA and the DICE team will forever be a part of our DNA, but over the past eight years, we've developed our own culture and our own way of doing things," Grass says in the announcement. "We're excited to look towards the future, expand the team and establish our own identity."
So far, Battlefield 2042 has teased two main multiplayer experiences (there are no plans for a single-player campaign) but confirmed there will be three: All-Out Warfare, which encompasses the big battles of Conquest and Breakthrough with up to 128 players on PC and new-gen consoles; Hazard Zone, which is focused on squad-based action; and a third mystery mode. The only thing we know for sure about the third mode is that it will not be a battle royale, since EA has outright confirmed it isn't doing one of those for Battlefield 2042, but it's a safe bet that the third mode is whatever Ripple Effect is working on.
We know even less about the "yet-to-be announced project," except for the fact that they have sorta announced it now – I mean, if you really think about it. One of Ripple Effect's many current job listings calls for a senior technical designer "with multiplayer experience," so the studio is likely sticking with multiplayer-focused games. Still, given the fact that DICE LA has only ever worked on Battlefield titles since it opened up in 2013, it will be interesting to see what Ripple Effect's next project will be now that it's working under its own banner.
Battlefield 4 has been running into server troubles in the leadup to Battlefield 2042, and that could be both a good and bad sign.
