News Vince Zampella Confirms Battlefield Will Return to Modern Setting

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Battlefield fans burnt by 2042's near-future backdrop will be pleased to know the next entry will return to a modern setting for the first time since 2013's Battlefield 4. Respawn Group Head and EA Studios general manager Vince Zampella sat down with IGN for an exclusive chat and revealed the first piece of concept art for the revival, which may or may not simply be called "Battlefield".

17th September is Investor Day for EA, hence the concept art, but there are some interesting tidbits to be gleaned. The massive publisher/developer was elusive in terms of specifics, like the name of the seemingly European city featured in the image. Still, there is good news, at least if your shooter tastes align with our own: Specialists are out, and classes are back in, with matches of 64 players (down from 128) on more focused and thoughtfully designed maps. Zampella explains:

"Yeah, 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. So, like you 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."

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Distancing himself from the dumpster fire that was Battlefield 2042 at launch, Zampella is signaling a return to "the peak or the pinnacle of Battlefield, it's that Battlefield 3... Battlefield 4 era where everything was modern", which are words in sequences that please us. And also, 2042 was definitely not on him: "So 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. Not everybody liked it, but you got to try things. It didn't work. It didn't fit. Specialist will not be coming back. So classes are kind of at the core of Battlefield, and we're going back to that."

Does a return to a modern setting sound good to you? Are you willing to forgive and forget and roll the dice on the next Battlefield at launch? Let us know in the comments section below.