EA’s Motive Studio announced April 9 that they would be forming a new team to help work on the Battlefield franchise, but made it clear that it would not impact the progress of their in-development Iron Man game.
An EA blog post from Motive General Manager Patrick Klaus stated that this move was a part of a long-term strategy to have two major teams working at the same time within Motive, who which also developed last year’s Dead Space remake and Star Wars: Squadrons.
“In my last update, I spoke about the studio going through an important period of evolution; we invested in developing our people in more ways than ever, and we improved our workspaces for teams to collaborate to their fullest and deliver the best game possible,” Klaus wrote. “That period of evolution and elevation continues today, with the exciting announcement that a group of developers from Motive are joining the talented teams at Criterion, DICE and Ripple Effect to continue unlocking the full potential of Battlefield.”
The Battlefield team will be helmed by the directors of the Dead Space remake, Philippe Ducharme and Roman Campos-Oriola. Klaus cited their experience with the Frostbite engine and their talent for storytelling and creating immersive battles as the main reasons for their appointment.
Klaus also confirmed that the upcoming single-player action/adventure game based on Iron Man is still in development, and is coming along well.
“In parallel, development continues to move forward on our Iron Man project, led by Olivier Proulx (Executive Producer) and Ian Frazier (Creative Director). The team made excellent progress this year, hitting a major internal milestone and laying a robust foundation for the journey ahead,” he wrote. “Iron Man is an important priority for Motive, and I’m very proud of the work we’ve accomplished so far.”
Alongside the announcement of the studio change, EA’s Battlefield blog confirmed that Season 7 of Battlefield 2042 would be its last, though the game will still be supported with challenges, events, and modes. It would seem that the team at Motive will be working on the future of the franchise, not just supporting its current releases.