Creative Director Craig Morrison has departed from DICE, the studio behind the Battlefield game

Experienced game designer Craig Morrison departed from DICE, the developer of Battlefield, last month to assume the same position at the new studio Blue Scarab Entertainment in Stockholm, Sweden.

Previously, Morrison spent nine years at Funcom, including as Creative Director at their Montreal studio, and almost eight years at Blizzard, including two years as Principal Designer on World of Warcraft.

He joined DICE in August 2021 as Creative Director, before being promoted to Studio Creative Director the following year.

Three months after Morrison joined DICE, EA announced its intention to create a “connected Battlefield universe” alongside widespread changes to the franchise’s development.

As part of these plans, former Creative Director Lars Gustavsson left DICE after 22 years, while Respawn and Infinity Ward co-founder Vince Zampella took on a new role as the overseer of the entire Battlefield franchise.

EA confirmed last month that it had closed Ridgeline Games, the studio formed in 2021 to work on a future Battlefield single-player game.

The announcement came shortly after the studio’s co-founder and Halo creator Marcus Lehto left the company for apparent personal reasons.

In a statement published alongside the announcement of nearly 700 company-wide layoffs, EA Entertainment president Laura Miele said that Criterion Games, the studio behind recent Need for Speed games, would now oversee Battlefield’s next single-player experience.

“Our vision for Battlefield is ambitious and exciting,” she said. “The project is making meaningful progress, thanks to the strong leadership of Vince Zampella and Byron Beede and dedicated studios committed to building a Battlefield platform our fans will love.

“Today, we have the largest Battlefield team in the franchise’s history, with passionate people in place across the globe and our studios organized to benefit from both franchise and local leadership.”

EA announced last year that DICE would serve as co-developer on the Battlefield single-player campaign that was then in the works at Ridgeline Games.

It also said DICE was working on a future multiplayer experience for the franchise, while LA-based Ripple Effect was creating a completely different Battlefield project.