Here's a curious blip to cross our radars: the Los Angeles studio of EA's DICE, funnily enough called DICE LA, has rebranded itself as Ripple Effect, and is working on something as yet unannounced alongside the co-founder of Respawn Entertainment, Vince Zampella.
This news, which comes to us via PC Gamer, isn't all new, as such - Zampella has been in a role at DICE LA since early 2020, alongside heading up Respawn. But fold in the resurfacing of this all-new project - likely to be a shooter given DICE LA's recent form as a studio working on the Battlefield franchise (and Medal of Honor before that, when it was called Danger Close Games) - and the studio's renaming to Ripple Effect, and y'know, it's impossible not to think that something Titanfall-y might be brewing, over there.
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The time-twisting gameplay of Titanfall 2 - particularly in the 'Cause & Effect' mission - brought with it a number of rippling effects on screen. Some people even called the places you ended up in "ripples in time". (Right? That's a thing? Cool.) And maybe this is me putting two and two together way too soon, but, Ripple Effect, guys? Are we not seeing this? Is this so on the nose, it couldn't possibly be connected?
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I'm obviously getting ahead of myself, so, back to the facts. Studio lead Christian Grass has said that Ripple Effect, rather than being a part of the Sweden-based DICE, is now standing apart and has "its own way of doing things". So while DICE LA did contribute work for the forthcoming Battlefield 2042, it seems whatever they do next won't be under the wider DICE umbrella.
PC Gamer adds that the Ripple Effect team's Battlefield 2042 contribution, while officially under wraps still, is a "love letter" to the series - and it could be the series-spanning maps we've heard are coming, and are set to be unveiled during EA Play on July 22 (if not sooner, as a separate smaller stream is happening today, July 8). And as for Ripple Effect's next game, the studio is hiring right now for VFX and character artists, engineers, designers and more. Who's got a monkey paw, handy?
Featured Image Credit: EATopics: News, Titanfall, Respawn Entertainment, EA, Battlefield