Electronic Arts and DICE have announced Battlefield Labs, a new community test program for the next Battlefield game that aims to help make the new game the best it can be. EA is rolling out this program in the wake of the poor reception to Battlefield 2042, which launched in a rough state back in 2021.
EA also announced Battlefield Studios, which is the new banner under which four studios will make “the future of Battlefield.” These development teams include DICE, Ripple Effect, Criterion, and Motive. DICE is working on multiplayer, Motive is developing single-player content (and multiplayer maps), Ripple Effect is making an unannounced new Battlefield experience, and Criterion is a partner studio supporting single-player, EA said in the video below. The first gameplay footage for the new Battlefield game was also released in the video and can be see–albeit briefly and in pre-alpha form–at the end of the video.
Anyone can sign up for Battlefield Labs, but DICE said only a select number of players will be admitted, and the test itself is only open to people in North America and Europe to begin with. More territories will be added later as the test environment expands. Only a “few thousand” people will get in to the test, EA said, and it will comprise both Battlefield veterans and newcomers alike. Eventually, EA will ramp up the test to include “tens of thousands” of people.
Those who are chosen for the testing program will get to play an early version of the next Battlefield game and share feedback with DICE to help make the game the best Battlefield possible. The testing will take place across PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.
“Battlefield Labs is our most ambitious community collaboration in franchise history, launching as we enter a critical phase in development,” DICE said. “We want to build Battlefield with our community. So it is a space for play and exploration; an environment where we can test concepts and mechanics with our players before we release them publicly. Our community is at the heart of Battlefield; their feedback is crucial in helping us know what to prioritize, what to improve and what feels like an authentic Battlefield experience.”
“Battlefield Labs is launching as we enter a critical phase in development with what’s next for Battlefield where we are looking to cross-collaborate with the community like never before. Now is the time to test big areas of the experiences our teams have been building for our upcoming launch.”
The first Battlefield Labs test will begin “in the coming weeks,” DICE said. An EA Account is required. EA said there will not be a “rigid cadence” for the testing sessions. “The plan is to run sessions that are at appropriate times for different players in different regions, and build (to allow for repeated testing) every few weeks. Test sessions scheduled will be pre-defined and communicated directly to Battlefield Labs participants ahead of them taking place,” EA said.
As for the available content, EA said players admitted to the test will get to try an “early test of concepts and mechanics, and that players should expect “rough edges, bugs, and crashes.”
“Battlefield Labs content will be tested at a time in our development when it is critical for us to cross-collaborate with our community, with their feedback being crucial in helping us know what to prioritize, what to improve and what feels like an authentic Battlefield experience,” EA said.
Players can submit feedback directly to the developers via a private Discord channel. EA said its teams will collect feedback and come up with plans that inform “what we need to prioritize, what we need to improve, and what we need to change to make it an authentic Battlefield experience when we release it publicly.”
EA said it will publish public recaps of what it’s learned from the testing phases, in addition to the steps being taken to address fan feedback. What that means is even if you don’t get chosen to participate, you’ll still be able to learn about what’s changing and why.
The test environment for the new Battlefield game is no surprise, as EA already confirmed a large-scale testing period for the game back in 2024.
The next Battlefield, which doesn’t have an official title yet, returns to modern times after Battlefield 2042 took the fight to the future. Battlefield boss Vince Zampella said previously that Battlefield 2042 didn’t resonate with fans in part because some of the game’s ideas were too ambitious, like its 128-player matches.
“I think they just strayed a little too far from what Battlefield is. They tried to do a couple things that were maybe ambitious: grow the player count etc. I don’t think they spent enough time iterating on what makes that fun,” Zampella said. “It’s not inherently a bad idea. The way they were set up and the way they executed just didn’t allow them to find the best thing possible.”
DICE’s new GM, Rebecka Coutaz, said the work-from-home setup was challenging as well for Battlefield 2042.
“It is different to work from home, even though that is the way we’re working now, it took time to adapt,” Coutaz said. “And it took time to know how to work well together. Everybody was disappointed–our community, our players, and our team as well. It’s a team that has invested years of their lives into this game. And for that game not to live up to any expectations from the team or from the players, that was tough. We are moving forward and we’ve done a lot of things since then.”
Zampella was elevated to the overall boss of Battlefield after Battlefield 2042’s launch. He has said that under his watch, the Battlefield series is being developed under a “whole new structure.”
“We’re putting multiple studios together. We’re bringing the best talent together and giving them the time to do something amazing,” Zampella said.
Though Battlefield 2042 might not have landed with everyone, the game finished 2021 as the fifth-best-selling game of the year in the US.
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