Battlefield keeping dedicated servers

By Oli Welsh Published 27 October, 2009

DICE calls out Infinity Ward.

Battlefield developer DICE has fired a shot across the bows of rival Infinity Ward, reassuring fans that it will be sticking with a dedicated server set-up for multiplayer in the PC version of Battlefield Bad Company 2.

"A lot of buzz has been floating around the internet lately about dedicated servers," said the developer, referring to the storm of protest over to Infinity Ward's decision not to use dedicated servers for Modern Warfare 2 on PC.

"Since Battlefield 1942 DICE has used dedicated servers for all platforms. This formula has worked well, and still works well, for us and for the gaming community. We have stayed true to this practice and will continue this tradition into the upcoming title Battlefield Bad Company 2," said DICE's Gordon Van Dyke.

"Other games use player-hosted or 'peer to peer' solutions, often resulting in a 'host with the most' situation; where the player hosting the match has an advantage over other players connected to their game," he continued, naming no names but mincing no words. "This makes dedicated servers the best solution for online PC gaming hands down!"

There's also a FAQ which, pointedly, answers every criticism that has been levelled at Infinity Ward's IWNet since last week's announcement.

Battlefield Bad Company 2 is out on 5th March 2010 for Xbox 360 and PS3 as well as PC. Find out more at the gamepage.

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About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (25) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • matrim83 #1 2 years ago

    This is well over a week old. Do try to keep up EG.

  • Beano #2 2 years ago

    Dedicated hosts and lines are the way to go - I'm with DICE on that one!

  • cianchristopher #3 2 years ago

    Aww, it's On like Donkey Kong!

  • Xerx3s #4 2 years ago

    DICE is right but their servers for BF1943 where outright rubbish (although, that could have more to do with the extremely bad coding of that game). I mean, shooting a tank point blanc in the back with a rocket launcher and watching the rocket clip right through it...seriously?

  • skillian #5 2 years ago

    That's nice and all, but it still seems like BFBC is the consolised version of Battlefield (though I will admit I haven't played it). When oh when is BF3 coming out (if it is ever coming out)? Surely this is what PC gamers are really waiting to hear about from Dice?

    @ChthonicEcho Not helping what? Yes, it's a bit of a cheap shot, but there's nothing wrong with little reassurance that Dice aren't going to be moving to this awkward model. It certainly doesn't hurt.
    Edited by 1 at 27/10/09 @ 11:59

  • Skurmedel #6 2 years ago

    In what way should he help? He works for a rival company, it's what companies do. They compete, and if they compete hard we might even get a better product. If a rival cock up, expect their competitors to take advantage of it.

  • skillian #7 2 years ago

    Yes, it was a pretty obvious move and Dice clearly thought they'd could get a bit of free publicity out of it.

    But there are a lot worse marketing stunts than that, and frankly Infinity Ward deserve a little ribbing from their competitors after the couldn't-give-a-shit attitude to their PC customers.

    If IW didn't want their competitors pointing out their obvious flaws they shouldn't have made them in the first place.

    edit: and the -1 didn't come from me, I don't dispute your right to comment.
    Edited by 1 at 27/10/09 @ 12:13

  • mkreku #8 2 years ago

    Haha, I love it! Go DICE!

  • kangarootoo #9 2 years ago

    @ChthonicEcho

    All we are seeing here is a case of someone wearing their heart on their sleeve. As skillian says, there are faar worse things you can do than brag about actually doing good stuff.

  • Byzanite #10 2 years ago

    no, I -1 him for being a moron.

  • actionfitz #11 2 years ago

    Suck it Activision :)
    guess I know which PC modern combat shooter I'll be getting...

  • freakzilla #12 2 years ago

    If I can afford to buy a PC capable of playing bad company 2 by then I'll definitely get a copy.

  • RESIDENT_nEVILe #13 2 years ago

    I agree with DICE's sentiment, but they certainly have nothing to boast about with never-improving, laggy, floaty console net-code.

  • Lalaland #14 2 years ago

    Gee it'd be nice if GvD and DiCE focused on their own network issues such as the broken voice support on PS3 in BF1943 rather than scoring cheap points off IW, even if I agree.

  • AphoticCosmos #15 2 years ago

    BF3 is confirmed to be in development, so I just hope they stick with dedicated servers for that as well.

    Roll on 64-player BF carnage again. Best multiplayer there is, bar none.

  • Turrican #16 2 years ago

    While its quite opportunistic of Dice to attack MW2's weakness like this, we have to remember that compared to Infinity Ward, Dice's games have a history of launching buggy and with dodgy netcode. I was very disappointed with the performance of BF 2142, and that was the last game I bought of theirs.

    So yes, dedicated servers are good, but make sure the game you release to run on it is worth playing in the first place if you want my cash!

  • Machiavellian #17 2 years ago

    So let me get this straight. You have to pay a 3rd party company to host your private server. So no custom private servers from the community. Not only is this a stroke of genius but I see no reason why IW will not adopt it. You give the PC community their dedicated server but you can still lock down how the game is played. There is no reason for EA needing to provide server side technology since those libraries are hosted on the 3rd party servers.

    I wouldn't be surprise if Activision and EA have just played Good Copy Bad Copy.

  • TeaFiend #18 2 years ago

    OH NO HE DIDN'T!
    /me waves fingers

  • Quixz #19 2 years ago

    Great news!

  • davisorle #20 2 years ago

    Good thing that INfinity is screwing up on basics and the rest of the companies know what to stay the f**k away from. TY infinity for being dumbasses even if MW2 looks amazing. Too bad you had to have your doses of morronism.

  • chessboxer #21 2 years ago

    I don't know if I should get this on PC or PS3. I hope they make a Gold Edition though like they did with the first game.

  • cobaltfram #22 2 years ago

    "This makes dedicated servers the best solution for online PC gaming hands down!"

    Dear DICE: your nerd is showing. Avoid exclamation points in the future.

  • hiddenranbir #23 2 years ago

    Yeah, go DICE!

    DEDICATED SERVERS FOR THE WIN! WOO!

    DICE DICE DICE!

    I'll be buying Dice game to show love and support!
    Edited by 1 at 27/10/09 @ 18:09

  • ChaK #24 2 years ago

    @skillian : yes, BF3 has been confirmed :)

  • Geordiemp #25 2 years ago

    Dedicated servers can be nice for consoles except EA suck.

    Lord of the rings on-line, 2 player coop, have to log into EA servers,really bad lag....whats up with that ?

    Are EA servers same for all there divisions, or are Dice better than pandemic ?

    Cant stand lag or slide show games, so favour LAN or system link games..