DICE’s Battlefield franchise lost its creative director Craig Morrison sometime in February. As spotted by Battlefield Bulletin, he recently made a quiet exit to new studio Blue Scarab Entertainment.
Previously, Morrison worked as designer, creative director, and game director for Funcom and Blizzard. He joined DICE in 2021 and was made creative director for the whole studio in 2022.
He has a similar role at Blue Scarab, which is at work on “crafting a new gaming experience.” The studio appears to have only a dozen members on staff, and was founded by Enno Rehling in December 2021.
Some of the staff previously worked at Toadman Interactive or Helldivers 2’s Arrowhead. Blue Scarab’s first project and actual size are presently unclear.
What is Battlefield’s future at EA?
Morrison’s exit from DICE and Battlefield came ahead of EA’s recent closure of Ridgeline Games. The new studio, whose founder Marcus Lehto left days prior, was tapped to make the single-player campaign for a new Battlefield.
While Lehto later clarified his departure was his own choice, this may all indicate uncertainty about Battlefield. The series has struggled to get out of Call of Duty’s shadow, and recent entries like Battlefield 2042 have launched with sizable issues.
Vince Zampella previously said he hoped to launch a larger Battlefield universe. DICE still has co-developers in Ripple Effect and Criterion, the latter taking over Ridgeline’s duties.
But those plans may be derailed by the struggle to define the Battlefield series and keep it current.