DICE "Begged" to Work on Star Wars: Battlefront

StewShearerOld

Geekdad News Writer
Jan 5, 2013
5,449
0
0
DICE "Begged" to Work on Star Wars: Battlefront


Battlefield DICE almost missed out on developing the new Star Wars: Battlefront.

Many a Star Wars fan left Electronic Arts' E3 presentation stoked and excited to learn that a new, next-gen entry in the Star Wars: Battlefront series <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/124787-Star-Wars-Battlefront-Announced-For-Next-Gen-Consoles>was in development. This joy was multiplied when it was learned that DICE, the developer behind the well-regarded Battlefield games would be working on the new title. EA has since <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/125155-Star-Wars-Battlefront-In-Good-Hands-At-DICE-Claims-EA>expressed its confidence that the game was with the right developer. That said, it's been revealed that originally DICE wasn't even considered for the job.

"I didn't anticipate them wanting to work on a license - they've always been new IP or their own IP," said Patrick Soderlund, executive vice president of Electronic Arts. "But they were just like, 'we would kill to make this game' and the whole studio started talking about it like, 'please give us this game'." Surprised by the studio's enthusiasm, Soderlund realized that DICE could be perfect for the job. "I called Frank [Gibeau, EA Labels boss] and I realized we had something here. 'If they want it that badly, then the game will be freaking awesome - we have to figure it out'. So we figured it out, we got them the game and it was that simple. They begged to do it, the opportunity was there and that's exactly why you'll see a game that will be what it needs to be."

Considering that DICE's recent efforts with its Battlefield franchise have left it with considerable experience balancing the same kind of vehicle versus foot soldier combat that previous Battlefront games specialized in, it may in fact be, as Soderlund put it "a match made in heaven." Only time will tell, of course, but we have a feeling that the Force may be strong with this one.

Source: CVG




Permalink
 

Jhooud

Someone's Dad
Nov 29, 2011
224
0
0
Oh please, oh please, oh please be awesome. And let me play couch co-op against bots.
 

Snowblindblitz

New member
Apr 30, 2011
236
0
0
Split screen co-oping mowing down wookies and ewoks with my wife again sounds like a blast.
This might be the PS4 push I need.
 

TiberiusEsuriens

New member
Jun 24, 2010
834
0
0
Only time will tell now. If it's just a BF4 clone there will be a decent amount of outrage. If they make larger maps that can support ground to space transitions, that's another matter entirely. The past development of this game has put our hopes so high it's likely we'll be disappointed no matter the quality (IMO).

Good luck DICE and may the force be with you.
 

thethird0611

New member
Feb 19, 2011
411
0
0
"But they were just like, 'we would kill to make this game'"

My next thought was....

EA: "Well, we have this one person..."

But ANYWAY.....

This actually makes me happier about the situation. If DICE really wanted to make it, they know the value that is behind the title, which means, hopefully, it wont be Battlefield:Battlefront.
 

GodzillaGuy92

New member
Jul 10, 2012
344
0
0
The news that DICE is apparently very passionate about the game rather than simply contractually obligated is quite encouraging. On the other hand, it may well be directly counterbalanced by the very necessity of begging to be the ones to develop the game providing another piece of evidence (as though any were needed) that EA's upper management have brains made of Swiss cheese.
 

Ldude893

New member
Apr 2, 2010
4,114
0
0
So, DICE actually has major passion behind this game and didn't just do it under EA's orders?

May the force be with them, then.
 

Sealpower

New member
Jun 7, 2010
172
0
0
So the half decent Star Wars themed battlefield clone will now be developed by the battlefield devs... Some might consider that the definition of irony but your mileage may vary.
 

gigastar

Insert one-liner here.
Sep 13, 2010
4,419
0
0
As i said somewhere on the internet... or maybe in the back of my head for all i know:

"Who else is better equipped to develop a SW: Battlefront game than DICE?"
 

sturryz

New member
Nov 17, 2007
504
0
0
I can't wait for EA to kick to bucket and DICE to get bought by a community centric publisher (like Volition with Deep Silver.) Then the games they would make would make your mind explode from sheer perfection, most of the issues tied to Battlefield seem to be on EA's part.
 

V8 Ninja

New member
May 15, 2010
1,903
0
0
It's nice to see that there's real passion for the project by its developers. It's very easy to view most AAA game development as forced/cynical cash grabbing but I'm glad that's not the case for DICE's Battlefront.
 

Zachery Gaskins

New member
Mar 29, 2011
93
0
0
Sealpower said:
So the half decent Star Wars themed battlefield clone will now be developed by the battlefield devs... Some might consider that the definition of irony but your mileage may vary.
Yeah, I was about to say, "Hey, wasn't Battlefront just Battlefield but with Star Wars theme and developed by someone other than the Battlefield guys?"

Hopeful for this.
 
Jun 23, 2008
613
0
0
So...you pay $60 for SWBF3, then you have to buy all your classes, guns, grenades, loadouts and officer commissions individually in micropayments? Is that what we can expect?

I liked that SWBF2 had enough bot support for single player. I'd noticed that earlier DICE titles couldn't handle enough bots to fill the field for one or only a few players. You really needed a full game.

238U

Who remains so disgruntled about Origin that he just won't play Origin games. Period.

EDIT: Added SW to Star Wars Battlefront titles for sake of disambiguation.
 

fix-the-spade

New member
Feb 25, 2008
8,639
0
0
They may have begged, but isn't Dice LA really a couple of Dice guys and the rest of Danger Close? That positively fills me with hope.
 
Apr 28, 2008
14,634
0
0
Jhooud said:
Oh please, oh please, oh please be awesome. And let me play couch co-op against bots.
Yes, this. This so hard. Please let me play with bots. If it's only with other people I'll be pissed.
 

Vanbael

Arctic fox and BACON lover
Jun 13, 2009
626
0
0
I'm crossing all fingers and toes for this to play well. If they lobbied to work on it this hard, they better know their shit. I know what I want, fucking awesome gameplay!
 

Gormech

New member
May 10, 2012
259
0
0
Would a Battlefield version of Star Wars really be that bad?
Think about it, the only thing that may need some effort would be lightsaber combat.
I personally would love to have mid air combat and stuff with an Y-wing again as long as they allowed more than 2 'planes' per match on the consoles. *evil glare*
 

dumbseizure

New member
Mar 15, 2009
447
0
0
As much as I don't like the "gritty realistic" Battlefield games, I do think DICE will do a fine job with battlefront.

I mean, the setting is already there, and as said in the article, they are used to balancing different weapons and vehicles in comparison to foot soldiers.

I do hope it turns out well.