Electronic Arts inadvertently birthed its fiercest competitor, Call of Duty, due to the decisions made regarding Medal of Honor. As Vince Zampella, who played a pivotal role in the creation of Call of Duty, remarked, “The only reason that Call of Duty exists is because EA were dicks.” After the success of Medal of Honor: Allied Assault in 2002, EA shifted development to an internal team, leaving Zampella and others at 2015, Inc. without a project. This pushed them to Activision where they developed Call of Duty, initially inspired by their experiences with the Medal of Honor franchise.

Zampella’s insights underscore the importance of maintaining talent and recognizing potential. Now, as the head of Battlefield, he finds himself on the EA side of this longstanding rivalry. The recent launch of Battlefield 6 has drawn significant attention, managing to peak at 747,000 players on Steam shortly after its release. This resurgence suggests that perhaps EA has learned valuable lessons from its past.