The legendary studio is currently working on an unannounced venture with Vince Zampella, co-founder of Respawn.
Ripple Effect Studios is now DICE LA. This studio created a mystery game mode for Battlefield 2042. Ripple Effect has hired for an unannounced project, in addition to working with DICE on Battlefield.
The new name is very logical, but not in the official meaning (“even the smallest ideas can change the world”), but rather because Ripple Effect has always had a wave-like character. Shapeshifting, dividing and once temporarily disappearing beneath the surface, before reappearing.
Its history dates back to 1995 when DreamWorks Interactive was founded. DreamWorks Interactive was responsible for the production of the first Medal of Honor. EA later bought the studio and renamed it EA Los Angeles. Clive Barker’s Undying and The Lord of the Rings The Battle for Middle-earth were made by EA Los Angeles. EA LA also published some Command & Conquer (EA LA closed Westwood in 2003), as well as more Medal of Honor expansions and games. EA LA was renamed Danger Close Games in 2010 and devoted itself to the revival of Medal of Honor. After releasing Medal of Honor: Warfighter, things didn’t go as planned and Danger Close was shut down.
It would be possible to end the DreamWorks Interactive/EA Los Angeles/Danger Close story there, but that wouldn’t tell the whole story. The lineage of DICE LA was continued by senior managers from Danger Close in 2013. Christian Grass was one of the developers on the Medal of Honor reboots. Now that DICE LA is called Ripple Effect, he has been appointed general manager. Vince Zampella (Respawn Entertainment cofounder) is also in the lead role. He started DICE LA’s oversight in January 2020.
It’s a fascinating ripple: Zampella was part of the development team for 2002’s Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. The game was published by EA, but not developed at EA Los Angeles. Infinity Ward was his first venture. In 2010 he split with Activision. He then co-founded Respawn. EA bought Respawn in 2017. Respawn recently released a Medal of Honor VR-game. It’s all over! (Medal of Honor: Above & Beyond was not very well, unfortunately.
Both the name change and unannounced project for a game were expected developments. Zampella stated that they would be happening in 2020. However, it is a pivotal moment for the studio. IGN was told by the studio manager when DICE LA was established that it was “an additional floor in Stockholm conveniently located near Los Angeles”. It was a part of DICE and not its own thing. Grass claims that the studio has its “own way” of doing things and will continue to grow as it establishes its identity.
Although we don’t know much about the mysterious game Ripple Effect is developing, we do know a bit about its Battlefield 2042 mode. EA calls it a “love note” for Battlefield fans. It will be unveiled at EA Play Live July 22. According to one rumor it’s a sandbox game mode that features maps, weapons and vehicles from across Battlefield history.
EA will host a livestream called The Future of FPS on Thursday, July 8. Grass as well as Zampella will appear. EA claims they’ll be “dropping hints” about Ripple’s Battlefield 2042 game mode. It will air at 10 a.m. Pacific on EA’s Twitch channel.
