From 'Titanfall' to 'Star Wars,' the evolution of game studio Respawn mirrors our search for story
Respawn Entertainment began with a mission to build a better shooter. That became the hit "Titanfall." In 2019, the studio expanded with the free-to-play "Apex Legends" and "Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order." The studio run by Vince Zampella is just getting started, with a virtual reality project on…
www.latimes.com
In 2020 Zampella will also lead the L.A.-based offices of another Electronic Arts-owned studio, DICE.
DICE was founded in Stockholm in the early 1990s and is home to games such as “Battlefield,” “Mirror’s Edge” and “Star Wars: Battlefront.” But Electronic Arts characterizes its L.A.-based outpost as long dedicated to support for DICE’s core products. Under Zampella, there are plans to expand and launch an original, as-yet-unrevealed game. The company will remain separate from Respawn and, Zampella says, likely will drop the DICE name.
“We will probably rebrand,” Zampella says. “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.’”
The studio, he stresses, will be “separate from DICE Stockholm and separate from Respawn.”
Says Zampella, “We do talk a lot, and the more we interact and learn from and teach each other, the better we’ll be. So there’s interaction, but as far as the games, they’re their own studio.”
As for what this means for Respawn, Zampella speaks of his role now as more of a head coach.
“Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order” leader Asmussen will continue to direct a narrative-driven branch at Respawn. The ongoing “Apex Legends” is overseen by Chad Grenier, who followed Zampella from Infinity Ward to Respawn to work on what would become the first-person-shooter series “Titanfall.” The virtual reality “Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond” is being spearheaded by Peter Hirschmann, whose “Medal of Honor” experience stretches back to the game’s early days when it was developed by DreamWorks Interactive.
