Vince Zampella says Battlefield 2042 "strayed too far from what Battlefield is"
"I don't think they spent enough time iterating on what makes that fun."
Respawn Entertainment head and Battlefield franchise boss Vince Zampella has spoken about the reception - and failure - of the series' most recent entry, Battlefield 2042, suggesting it "strayed too far from" its roots.
Battlefield 2042 was dogged by technical issues and controversial design decisions when it launched last year, quickly attracting overwhelmingly negative reviews from players on Steam.
Since then, developer DICE has continued to tweak and expand on Battlefield 2042's wobbly base, but it's often felt like too little, too late - with publisher EA admitting the game's sales "did not meet expectations", saying, "Some of the design choices we made...did not resonate with everyone in our community".
And now, franchise boss Vince Zampella has weighed in with his own thoughts on the reasons behind Battlefield 2042's struggles, telling financial news publication Barrons (thanks VGC), "I think they just strayed a little too far from what Battlefield is".
Expanding on that, and referencing Battlefield 2042's now-defunct 128-player Breakthrough mode, Zampella added, "They tried to do a couple of things that were maybe ambitious: grow the player count etc. I don't think they spent enough time iterating on what makes that fun."
"It's not inherently a bad idea," he continued. "The way they were set up and the way they executed just didn't allow them to find the best thing possible."
In the wake of Battlefield 2042's commercial and critical failure, EA has announced it's rethinking the series' development process "from the ground up", more recently explaining that it's "coordinating multiple studios...to build a connected Battlefield universe".
As for Battlefield 2042, DICE continues to work on the beleaguered shooter, recently releasing its generally well-received season two.