should learn from Battlefield 2042. So that had already been kicked off when I came on board. That involved all the developers from all the studios that worked on Battlefield 2042. So DICE, EA Gothenburg, Criterion (who’s now working on Need for Speed as you know) and Ripple Effect in LA. There were many, many learnings that we got from that retrospective that will help us to form the future of how we should work.” she thinks for a moment, before explaining “The feedback that we got from all our developers has helped us to improve and look into our tools, to our development processes, to define the roles and responsibilities for individuals, but also for our teams. All this will help us to foster a more rapid decision making process, which is vital when you make games like we do that are multiplayer, that are live, which require a lean and agile organisation where we can take risks and where we can innovate quickly, and know where we can improve. I would say that because there are so many studios now working together on Battlefield 2042. These processes are even more important, because we work in different time zones. We are also in the new hybrid work model. So all of this has to be much more structured and defined. So that is a lot of great work that we’ve done, all together, in the last six or so months.” Coutaz also believes that the highlight of her time
at EA and DICE has been meeting the developers themselves: “Meeting all these passionate people. You know, it’s my drug. It’s my energy and they are all game creators, so they want to make the best games ever on this planet. So for me, that is really the best part of my job. These passionate people. I’ve got to meet with Battlefield veterans who have been around for 20 years. I’ve got to meet the new employees that are passionate about the brand, who joined DICE for Battlefield 2042.” she said, “I’ve also got to meet with great colleagues in the other studios to be able to work with people, you know, like Christian Grass at Ripple Effect, Marcus Lehto at Cascade, Alex Seropian at Industrial Toys and Vince Zampella and Byron Beede. For me, that is very, very enriching on a personal level, but they also have an impact on Battlefield 2042. To be able to leverage from their best practices. It’s just fantastic. I’ve also met so many good people at Electronic Arts, so I feel very, very welcome.” Due to the length of time Coutaz has
already spent in the games industry, she may just be the perfect person to take on a challenge like Battlefield
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2042, one with the experience to be prepared for any of the surprises and difficulties that will no doubt pop up while getting the Battlefield war effort back on track. “I wouldn’t say there were no surprises, but you know,
I’ve been in the industry for a long time. I’ve been in the industry for more than 20 years. I’m being very humble. But I have, I have experience from having been in production and development on the publishing side. Having led one of Ubisoft’s studios in France. I have that experience as well. So, I’ve worked on games that worked really well. I’ve also worked on games that encountered a lot of difficulties. I’m not saying that I know everything, don’t take me for that. I’m being humble, but I use all the experience that I have acquired in my life working in this industry. I use that experience together with the teams here at DICE, and with the teams at EA. So of course it’s been tough, but I haven’t really encountered anything that I didn’t expect to encounter.” Coutaz is so singularly focused on Battlefield and
getting the latest title and the franchise in general to being in a good place at the moment that she hasn’t even had time or inclination to even consider working on another IP for Electronic Arts. That doesn’t mean it’ll never happen, however, but it won’t be any time soon: “I haven’t really thought about another property so far. I’m so focused on Battlefield. My drive is the passionate people, but it’s also to be able to work on one of the greatest entertainment brands in this industry. So I’m very satisfied with that at the moment and we need to improve, so I can’t even project myself to any other brand at the moment. I need a bit more distance from it. At the moment, I’m just so proud of being able to contribute to Battlefield.”
Dropping in.
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