Battlefield Founders Talk the Future of Battlefield – Mod Tools, Return to WW2 and Bigger Maps

Ever wonder what the Founders of the Battlefield franchise want for the future of Battlefield? Taking into account the current trends the series has been adopting, you might find some of the answers surprising.

Celebrating their 10th anniversary, Battlefield founders Mats Dal, Lars Gustavsson, Magnus Walterstad and Stefan Vukanovic sit down for dinner not too far away from the DICE headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden and reflect back on the years and events that brought them to where they are now. While past achievements and experiences were the primary topics of discussion amongst these Battlefield veterans – of which was transcribed thanks to the official Battlefield blog – there was a point where heads turned toward the future.

“Personally, I have this fantasy about Battlefield having even larger environments where everything is seamless,” proclaims Dal, Co-founder of Refraction Games, creators of Codename Eagle, and programmer on all Battlefield games since. Vukanovic, who took up various artistic positions working on a number of past and current titles, including Codename Eagle and Battlefield 3, answered, “that’s like ten years from now, maybe.” Providing his input, Gustavsson, current creative director on the Battlefield franchise, mentions, “one interesting thing is we’ve talked about player counts over the years. A lot of people still feel that 40 or so players is the optimal number where it plays the best. Sometimes 64 players doesn’t necessarily mean a better experience. On Operation Métro, for example, 64 players gets pretty hairy.”

Walterstad, sound designer on Battlefield 1942 and involved in most Battlefield titles since, shares his idea: “I’d love to see a remake of the big and beautiful El Alamein map.” Dal agrees, “yeah, that was a real favorite of mine,” while Vukanovic recalls, “It was so much fun just flying around on it, doing nothing. Just looking around at everything.”

While many Battlefield fans enjoy the modern setting of current Battlefield titles like Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Battlefield 3, the World War Two setting holds a place dear to many hearts and can be sorely missed at times. Apparently, Gustavsson agrees: “m-hm. It would be great to return to the Second World War. There is so much left to do.” Dal shares the same desire, stating, “yeah. And we picked 1942 for a reason. Everything had cool design.”

Perhaps even more sorely missed is the ability to work with mod tools in the Battlefield series. A number of fans were disappointed to learn that Battlefield 3 would not support mod tools and felt that it would hinder the lifespan of the game. Luckily, these Battlefield vets are right there with you and hope to see mod tools supported in the future as well. Here is the conversation that ensued:

Walterstad: I’d like to give people back the possibility to modify Battlefield in the future.

Dal: Yeah.

Walterstad: I remember this dude making the craziest mods for 1942. He remade a Tiger tank into a spider…

Gustavsson: …And put a tilt rotor on the B-17 bomber!

Walterstad: Awesome stuff!

Gustavsson: And I remember a Pirates versus zombies mod and a Formula 1 mod.

Gustavsson: Maybe Stefan knows, but if you do a mod tool nowadays I think it has to be pretty thorough since everything is so complex. You’d need to put a lot of work into those tools.

Dal: Wait, wasn’t it MORE complex in Battlefield 1942? Those mod tools were pretty basic.

Gustavsson: Yeah, you pretty much had to reverse engineer the game! Could it be any more complex?

Dal: But seriously, it would be cool to make it moddable again. It makes the game live longer, not just because of us.

Gustavsson: Yes. The game takes on a life of its own.

While this doesn’t confirm the contents of Battlefield 4 or any future Battlefield titles, it’s good to know that the founders, and perhaps most influential of those involved in the franchise, share a vision that would bring tears of joy to Battlefield fans all over the world.

Would you like to see bigger Battlefield maps or a remake of the classic El Alamein map? What about a return to the WW2 setting? Let us know in the comments below what path you would like to see the Battlefield series take in the future!

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