Back at the start of the decade, the LA Times reported that current Respawn Entertainment head Vince Zampella would be taking on a new task for the same position over at DICE L.A., a subsidiary team for the titular Swedish developer. At the time of reporting, Zampella shared that while he will helm the team, he views himself to stand more as a “Head Coach” rather than a leader of the Los Angeles studio.
He tells that in the midst of the new adjustment, DICE L.A. will be facing a rebranding of its current image. The name looks to still be as is, but the identity of its repertoire will certainly be adjusted for this next step for the developer. And now months following the initial announcement of his role at DICE L.A., Zampella has returned to speak more on the team.
When being interviewed by IGN recently, Zampella explains that the team is expected to be renamed at some point, but the ongoing pandemic does get into the way of the makeover operation. He adds that the team will be working on a shooter which does complement the team’s expertise when working on previous projects. “We’ll figure that out as we go. The COVID situation has thrown a kink in everything, so we’re still figuring out.”
“That team is a shooter team. Chances are it’s going to be something along those lines,”Zampella explained to IGN. “There’s a lot of really good shooter talent there.”
Not finished on the discussion, Zampella then goes on to add that alike Respawn Entertainment – DICE L.A. is not fully committed to work on the shooter genre entirely and other projects could emerge as well. “We want to do something that’s not competitive with other EA games so that we’re kind of filling in the right gaps in the portfolio.” He continues by sharing that the current project at hand is a new turn for the genre, but is not decided as ideas are still being spitballed before committing to a reveal later on.
And while Zampella himself along with the team at Respawn are one of the few at Electronic Arts not to utilize the Frostbite Engine itself, DICE L.A. will be an exception. “DICE is a Frostbite team, so they’re familiar with it. You need to pick the right engine to make the game that you want to make.
“Most likely it’ll be Frostbite because that’s what they’re familiar with and that’s what they know and that’s what’s going to be the quickest ramp-up time.” Closing the discussion, Zampella shares that hiring is aimed to be in the 100 employee projectile alike other DICE teams. He urges that remote positions are also being provided to ensure safety of current and future developers as the future continues to unfold.
The news comes from the same interview that Zampella shared with IGN that the team is still vacant of a new Titanfall project. Respawn Entertainment is also shared to potentially be teasing a new reveal of sorts at this upcoming EA Play Live. You can read the full report by heading here.
What do you hope to see from the now-named DICE L.A.?
Source: IGN
