Battlefield 2042 has been out for almost a week, technically nearly two weeks considering anyone who pre-ordered the Gold or Ultimate Edition got early access to the game from November 12th, and its release has been rather turbulent. While it received mostly positive or average reviews from critics, the player-base has been far more brutal. At the time of writing, user reviews on Steam are overwhelmingly negative, with common complaints being certain gameplay changes and a lack of content. And now it’s been revealed that the Battlefield series’ head of design is leaving it behind.
According to VGC, Fawzi Mesmar, who has worked at DICE since 2019, announced in an internal email sent to staff that he will be departing from DICE and EA, thanking everyone for putting their faith in him and describing his time as an “absolute pleasure.” His resignation isn’t abrupt, however, as he explains that he was made an offer by another company, one which was willing to wait for him until Battlefield 2042 shipped. Mesmar says that it was important for him to be with the team until this was achieved.
Mesmar hasn’t said where he will be working next, only saying that his new position is still based on Stockholm, Sweden, where DICE is located. He also hasn’t shared who his successor will be, although it is something he has discussed with DICE’s general manager, Oskar Gabrielson. His final day will be November 26th.
Before joining DICE, Mesmar briefly worked as a games design consultant at Atlus for six months in 2011, before moving onto Gameloft as a principal game designer for three years. After that, he worked for nearly two years at enish, Inc. as creative director/global publishing director and then went to join Activision subsidiary King in 2016. There, he worked for three years as a design director and was eventually promoted to studio director.
While at DICE, he oversaw not only the Battlefield games, but also Star Wars Battlefront 2. It’s recently been rumored that DICE pitched a third Star Wars Battlefront game to EA, but the idea was shot down due to licensing costs. Instead, the studio is already working on another Battlefield game, which is still in very early development.
As for Battlefield 2042, Mesmar’s departure should hopefully not drastically affect Battlefield 2042’s post-launch updates. DICE has commented on the negative fan feedback and shared some of its plans to address the complaints, with the first proper season of content set for early 2022.
Battlefield 2042 is available for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: VGC