DICE Los Angeles, the development team spun-off from Battlefield developer DICE, could be developing a new shooter series, suggests a job listing. EA has confirmed that Battlefield 6 will be released on PS5 and Xbox Series X after 2020 but it seems like it may not be the only EA shooter for fans to get excited about.
On LinkedIn, EA has posted a job listing for a lead character artist to join the team at DICE LA. The artist will be creating "high quality, realistic characters," character concepts, and designs. The job listing doesn't reveal a huge amount of information about what the artist will be doing, but one skill that DICE LA is looking for is knowledge of military gear and hardware. This would typically suggest that the studio is working on the next Battlefield game, but that may not be the case.
DICE LA has typically been a support team for the main DICE development team and other EA studios. However, EA has planned to change this and from January 2020, Respawn Entertainment CEO Vince Zampella has been in charge. Zampella confirmed plans for DICE LA to make its own, original game and said that the developer would likely change its name so that it can get away from the idea that it is just a support studio. All of these things suggest that the new artist and the rest of the DICE LA team will not be working on Battlefield 6.
It's unclear what sort of military shooter game DICE LA could make. After the huge success of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, the single-player Star Wars game that launched in 2019, EA has said that it is open to making more big, single-player games. DICE has found success with Battlefield and its multiplayer so a new military shooter with a bigger focus on story could potentially do well by offering something different.
A single-player military shooter would also be less likely to compete with multiplayer games like Apex Legends. Microtransactions in that game have made hundreds of millions of dollars for EA but creating a third shooter series where multiplayer is important could have a big effect on Apex Legends and Battlefield.
DICE LA's plans haven't been officially confirmed but it's unlikely that fans will hear about its game for a while. Zampella has only just taken over the studio and hiring for positions like lead character artist means that the game is in very early development. The next Battlefield game is rumored to be releasing after 2021 but it's more likely that fans will hear an official reveal about that first.
Battlefield 6 is currently in development for PS5 and Xbox Series X.
Source: LinkedIn