The next installment in the Battlefield franchise is set to return to a modern-day setting, aiming to capture the essence of what made Battlefield 3 so iconic.

In reflecting on the peak of the Battlefield series, it’s clear that the Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4 era, with its modern settings, was truly iconic,” he mentioned in a recent IGN interview. “Our goal is to return to the essence of what made Battlefield great and execute that concept flawlessly, then we can explore new directions from there.

Zampella, who was the head of Infinity Ward back when Call of Duty: Modern War 1 and 2 exploded, listed a few features players can expect from the next game, and most of them sound like reactions to what people didn’t like about Battlefield 2042. In addition to being set in the current day, the next Battlefield will ditch 128-player maps for 64 player ones, and move back to standard class loadouts rather than custom specialists that have more of a hero shooter feel about them with their unique perks.

“So I wasn’t there for 2042,” he told IGN. “I don’t know what the rationale was, but for me, it’s like the team tried something new. You have to applaud that effort. Not everybody liked it, but you got to try things. It didn’t work. It didn’t fit. Specialist will not be coming back. So classes are kind of at the core of Battlefield, and we’re going back to that.”

There’s still no set release date for the next Battlefield, which I’m going to keep calling Battlefield 6 until EA announces otherwise. Zampella hinted at a community testing program coming in 2025 for the game, but it’s still not clear exactly what will return the series to the juggernaut it once was. Earlier this year, EA announced a Battlefield universe that sounded a lot like the sequel-spanning microtransaction machine that is Call of Duty: Warzone.