The past year was a very big one for Respawn Entertainment. Between Apex Legends and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, the developer gave the video game industry two of its bigger success stories in 2019. Part of that success can be attributed to CEO Vince Zampella. Zampella co-founded Respawn in 2010, but now he’ll be expanding his purview to include another Electronic Arts-owner developer, DICE LA. Zampella will still remain with Respawn, however. The announcement comes courtesy of the Los Angeles Times, where Zampella also revealed that DICE LA will likely receive a new name, to signify the new direction.
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“We will probably rebrand,” Zampella said to the Los Angeles Times. “We want to give it a new image. We want people to say, ‘This is a destination you can go and make new content.’ I think they’ve kind of gotten the branding that they are the support studio for DICE Stockholm. I think rebranding is important for showing people, ‘Hey! Come work here. We’re going to do some amazing things.’”
Respawn’s sole announced project for 2020 is Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond. The game is the first new entry in the series since 2012’s Medal of Honor: Warfighter. The upcoming title is currently an Oculus Rift exclusive, and it sounds fairly ambitious. The first-person shooter will put players right in the heart of World War II conflicts in a way never before seen in a video game, while also incorporating real world, documentary footage of World War II. Zampella previously worked on Medal of Honor: Frontline and Medal of Honor: Allied Assault Spearhead, both released in 2002.
Opened in 2013, DICE LA has existed solely in a support role since, assisting on properties such as Battlefield and Star Wars: Battlefront. The developer has never produced a game of their own, however. The move by Electronic Arts signifies a major change for the studio. The team’s first project has not been announced as of this writing, but it will be interesting to see what comes of DICE LA’s rebrand. EA clearly has faith in the studio as their own entity, or they wouldn’t task Zampella with pulling double duty after Respawn’s successes.
Are you excited to see what DICE LA does under Zampella? Do you plan on checking out Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!
