If you enjoyed shooting your way through the Battlefield 4 achievements, we have some great news: EA views Battlefield 4 and its predecessor as the “pinnacle” of the series, and the next Battlefield is returning to a modern setting. Battlefield 2042 didn’t find a spot on our list of the best Xbox first-person shooter games, but perhaps the upcoming game will have better luck.Battlefield is returning to what makes the series great: a modern setting and classesWhile EA has been pretty vague about its plans for its so-called “Battlefield universe,” a recent IGN interview with the head of Respawn Entertainment and EA Studios general manager Vince Zampella has revealed some tidbits about the next mainline entry in the Battlefield series.”I think we have to get back to the core of what Battlefield is and do that amazingly well, and then we’ll see where it goes from there,” Zampella said. “But I think for me, it’s that peak of Battlefield-ness is in that Battlefield 3 and 4 days. So, I think it’s nostalgic for players, for me, for the teams even. Those are kind of the heyday… although I would say 1942 also.”Elsewhere in the interview, Zampella said,” The core Battlefield players know what they want. They’ve been with us forever, they’ve been amazing supporters. We need to earn their trust back and get them back on our side.” Part of that is fleshing out the Battlefield experience. “It’s expanding out and getting more players into the universe and seeing what we can do, so when you want a different experience, you don’t have to leave Battlefield. You can experience more things within the Battlefield universe.”Battlefield 2042 introduced 128-player matches on Xbox Series X|S, which many players disliked as the maps were made much larger to cater to that many players. That resulted in the maps feeling empty, filled with open spaces, and losing the chaotic team-based fighting the series was known for. While Zampella doesn’t specifically say that 128-player matches are being dropped, there is a focus on a return to Battlefield’s classic map design.”The 128 player, did it make it more fun? Like… doing the number for the sake of the number doesn’t make any sense. We’re testing everything around what’s the most fun,” Zampella said. “The maps, once they get to a certain scale, become different. It’s a different play space, and I think you have to design around that. So, we are designing something that is more akin to previous Battlefields. I’d rather have nice, dense, really nice, well-designed play spaces. Some of them are really good. I can’t wait for you to see some of them.”There is also some great news for playable characters: Specialists are out, and classes are back in! “I wasn’t there for 2042. I don’t know what the rationale was, but for me, it’s like the team tried something new. You have to applaud that effort,” Zampella said. “Not everybody liked it, but you got to try things. It didn’t work. It didn’t fit. Specialists will not be coming back. So, classes are kind of at the core of Battlefield, and we’re going back to that.”EA has the “largest Battlefield team in franchise history” working on the franchise’s future. We don’t know when we’ll see the next mainline entry arrive, but reports have suggested it will launch sometime in October 2025 alongside a Warzone-style free-to-play Battlefield game.
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