Q&A with Battlefield 6 Creative Director Thomas Andersson

As we approach the explosive launch of Battlefield 6 on October 10,  we caught up with Battlefield 6 Creative Director Thomas Andersson for an exclusive Q&A, diving deep into the biggest battles and triumphs the team faced during development, discovering what he’s most fired up about for this new installment, and much more. 

Check out the full Q&A in our video above, or read the answers below—and get ready, the next era of Battlefield is almost here!

“For me this game is intended to be a spiritual successor to Battlefield 3 and 4. And in those games, some of the most important systems to get right are the pillars of the game such as Destruction and Classes. And I feel like we’ve refined those to a level we haven’t even touched before.”

Hi Thomas! Thanks for joining us today. Let’s jump right in, shall we? What excites you most about Battlefield 6?

For me this game is intended to be a spiritual successor to Battlefield 3 and 4. And in those games, some of the most important systems to get right are the pillars of the game such as Destruction and Classes. And I feel like we’ve refined those to a level we haven’t even touched before. Especially when it comes to Classes. I’m really excited to see what people will do with the designs that we put in front of them. With the assault, the engineer, support and recon being back, but in a little bit of a new shape that I think is more exciting and powerful than what we’ve launched in the past. I’m excited to see what people are able to come up with when they’re playing this live.

What was your creative approach to Battlefield 6?

This is about the totality or the composition of everything, how everything comes together. 

It starts with, we’re often talking about just designing from the crosshair out. So I think the team has a phenomenal core gameplay loop now, so anything that has to do with gunplay and movement, it starts with that. And then we expand on it with the Classes, with the Destruction. 

A lot of this is in philosophy, right? Stuff that aren’t necessarily new systems, but we’re not going for gimmicks. We’re going in terms of executing to the best of our ability, all these systems, and making them come together better than what they had before. So like Tactical Destruction, for example, Destruction–nothing new, we introduced that with Bad Company 1 back in the day. 

But here, we have as a philosophy and a lens for the team to look at these things, is what value does me taking this thing down provide? Whether it’s taking out a cover, creating a new route, whatever it is. That, as a mantra or philosophy, is something that gives the team tools when they’re looking at designing a level, when they’re looking at if something is coming together, they can always think about, what would players do with this thing? How do they think about this environment? How will they reshape this environment to their advantage? 

To be able to, for example, take over a point the enemy is besieging at the moment. What’s the best approach there? What can I do to change the environment to make it easier for us and our team to kind of flank and surprise them.

“And what I’m hoping is that they take away that this is the most fun that they have ever had in Battlefield.”

What were some of the biggest challenges faced during development?

So I think something that we haven’t experienced before to this scale is we’re coming in with four different studios all bringing value in terms of culture, experiences, and those kinds of things. But the coordination required to get those four studios and everything with the larger leadership organization to flow naturally and good, and communicate, all that sort of stuff. 

It’s been incredibly fun. Incredibly rewarding. The game wouldn’t be anywhere close to what it is without it. But it is something that you do need to work on, something you always need to keep in mind and improve as you’re going.

What do you hope players take away?

What we definitely want to get right, is, what is the essence at the core of Battlefield? Getting that right, nailing that, to have our veterans with us, to have people–because we’re spending a lot of time making sure that players curious about Battlefield can come in and have an easier time than ever. Whether it’s vehicles they’re interested in, learning about the Classes, playing certain modes. All of that stuff has gotten a lot of attention from the development team. 

And what I’m hoping is that they take away that this is the most fun that they have ever had in Battlefield.Regardless if you’ve been a Battlefield faithful, or a Battlefield curious in the past that you find a new home in Battlefield 6.

Battlefield 6 launches on October 10. Check out other amazing EA stories on ea.com/news.