Some excerpts from a long Q&A interview with Vince Zampella.
On his time at 2015:
"My title was development director. All the titles rolled up to me. We were actually working on a Half Life expansion when I started at 2015. It was both Gearbox and us both working on one. I remember we went to a meeting at Valve and it was obvious they hated the guy that owned 2015. I was like, "Oh crap. What did I do?" That ended up not working out. And then we ended up working on Medal of Honor."
Why he's proud of Fallen Order:
"Doing something like Star Wars Jedi [Fallen Order, a story-driven game] was a purposeful departure from what we've known. I've been known as the shooter guy. That's not all that I love. [I like] doing something that challenges me and challenges the team. And to put something together that's new and exciting. That is what drives me."
On game industry consolidation:
"It's a big trend. There are benefits to it. There are probably negatives to it. I think we need to be careful that we're not squashing creativity. Mega franchises are great because you can do all these big things. You can do things you can never do as an independent developer. So, there's great opportunities, but what are we leaving behind in that? We have to be careful we are always innovating and looking for the next thing—not just focused on the things that are right in front of us."
On what went wrong with Battlefield 2042:
"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. 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."
On whether traditional shooters with a campaign+multiplayer (Call of Duty, Halo, Battlefield) have a strong future in a world of battle royale:
"Yeah. Absolutely. People love it. There are people that play only multiplayer. There are people that play only campaign. They want that story and to be part of an adventure."
It was a lot of fun to do this interview. Feel free to ask me any questions.
Full Q&A article: https://www.barrons.com/articles/ea...of-duty-battlefield-51663180969?mod=hp_LATEST
On his time at 2015:
"My title was development director. All the titles rolled up to me. We were actually working on a Half Life expansion when I started at 2015. It was both Gearbox and us both working on one. I remember we went to a meeting at Valve and it was obvious they hated the guy that owned 2015. I was like, "Oh crap. What did I do?" That ended up not working out. And then we ended up working on Medal of Honor."
Why he's proud of Fallen Order:
"Doing something like Star Wars Jedi [Fallen Order, a story-driven game] was a purposeful departure from what we've known. I've been known as the shooter guy. That's not all that I love. [I like] doing something that challenges me and challenges the team. And to put something together that's new and exciting. That is what drives me."
On game industry consolidation:
"It's a big trend. There are benefits to it. There are probably negatives to it. I think we need to be careful that we're not squashing creativity. Mega franchises are great because you can do all these big things. You can do things you can never do as an independent developer. So, there's great opportunities, but what are we leaving behind in that? We have to be careful we are always innovating and looking for the next thing—not just focused on the things that are right in front of us."
On what went wrong with Battlefield 2042:
"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. 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."
On whether traditional shooters with a campaign+multiplayer (Call of Duty, Halo, Battlefield) have a strong future in a world of battle royale:
"Yeah. Absolutely. People love it. There are people that play only multiplayer. There are people that play only campaign. They want that story and to be part of an adventure."
It was a lot of fun to do this interview. Feel free to ask me any questions.
Full Q&A article: https://www.barrons.com/articles/ea...of-duty-battlefield-51663180969?mod=hp_LATEST
