EA: Give Battlefield 3 dev some space

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 4 August, 2010

Paparazzi goes gaga.

EA's asked the press to give Battlefield 3 developer DICE some space following requests for more info on the game.

Battlefield 3 was quietly announced over the weekend in a press release that revealed those who buy the Medal of Honor Limited Edition would gain access to the beta.

That's all the info EA was prepared to divulge at the time.

Following enquiries by Eurogamer, EA issued this statement: "Battlefield 3 is one of the most anticipated games in the world and we want to give the dev team as much time and privacy to craft the game without disturbing them with Marketing/PR.

"In the meantime, everyone is excited to launch MOH and we hope you'll play that beta and enjoy that game this fall."

So, what do we know?

A release date has yet to be announced. But, we can assume that it will be released after EA's 2011 financial year, which ends in April 2011, because it's not down on the company's official release schedule.

And platforms are unconfirmed. But we can assume it'll be released on at least the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 because beta access is available from all three versions of Medal of Honor.

In February former DICE chief executive, and studio manager of DICE Canada, Fredrik Liliegren, confirmed that Battlefield 3 had been in development at the Swedish studio for the past three years.

"What the PC version is going to be, Battlefield 3, I think it's going to absolutely blow everyone away, but I can't tell you what it is, but it will blow people away... because it's not Modern Warfare 2 PC, it's not that experience," he said.

And in June 2009 EA COO John Pleasants said, "I've had the luxury of looking at Battlefield 3 over at DICE in Sweden... Of course, that's not in the [current] fiscal year, but that is a product that is looking very good."

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (32) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • randompanda #1 2 years ago

    "Please stop talking about Battlefield 3 - buy MoH instead!"

  • HermitArcader #2 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • Bradach #3 2 years ago

    interesting. i wonder if the PS3 version will support move? KZ3 will be released at that stage will full move support so there will be a template for them to use and EA have been reasonably good supporters of move so far... i can dream :)

  • DAN.E.B #4 2 years ago

    Paparazzi admit doing cocaine?

  • NimbusTLD #5 2 years ago

    "And platformers are unconfirmed."

    I do hope it's not a platformer indeed!

  • geeza2020 #6 2 years ago

    Bradach:
    interesting. i wonder if the PS3 version will support move? KZ3 will be released at that stage will full move support so there will be a template for them to use and EA have been reasonably good supporters of move so far... i can dream :)

    I hope and pray every night that none of this waggle shit ever comes near the beautiful battlefield games.

  • Golgo #7 2 years ago

    I hope they sort the servers by then because the Bad Company 2 servers are terrible for disconnects.

    EDIT: neg away suckers, but they are. About as stable as Stephen Fry on an off-day.
    Edited by Golgo at 04/08/10 @ 11:30

  • Bradach #8 2 years ago

    @geeza2020
    I'm not talking about waggle shit, i'm talking about aiming by pointing at the screen and shooting. If you ever played metroid corruption on the wii you'd understand why this is better than analogue control.

  • shadowmind #9 2 years ago

    Will this be BFBC2 re-skinned? and maybe with planes?
    I am hoping for something new and fresh to be added if they want my cash.

  • IkariW #10 2 years ago

    "we want to give the dev team as much time and privacy to craft the game without disturbing them with Marketing/PR."

    Hahahahahahahahahaha... *Drying eyes* your funny EA, you crack me up. ;)

    Its got nothing at all to do with boosting interest in COD4 MW...err I mean MoH. And nothing to do with the fact that Beta keys for forthcoming games boost sales massively (Crackdown-Halo3 beta).... no no, nothing to do with that. ;)

    Seriously, do they think we were born yesterday?

    Ikari

  • geeza2020 #11 2 years ago

    @Bradach

    analogue control??? Hopefully i will be able to play this on a pc in the future (mine may collapse trying to run this)

    Mouse and keyboard beat any other control method for FPS. Full stop.

  • gav082 #12 2 years ago

    I want more maps for BFBC2 first!

  • Bradach #13 2 years ago

    @geeza2020
    agreed KB+M is better... but i was talking about PS3

  • TVoJ #14 2 years ago

    Quote"Will this be BFBC2 re-skinned? and maybe with planes?
    I am hoping for something new and fresh to be added if they want my cash. "

    I'm guessing you've never played a Battlefield game on a PC then.
    If you think DICE would be stupid enough to try and rip off PC gamers with a reskinned BC2 in a BF3 box you're smoking crack my man.

    BF3 will definatly become the new standard. I can't freaking wait to out-manouver a J10 or mig29 in a cobra, flying into a tunnel and watching my pursuer smash into the rim! BRING IT ON!!!!!

  • Crembo #15 2 years ago

    128 Players, is that possible?

  • TVoJ #16 2 years ago

    Well the had 64 on BF2 and it worked fine, so a few years on with the advances in BB tech we've had should be no problem. Will be epic

  • RandomRash #17 2 years ago

    Maybe and hopefully it'll be a fully destructable city the size of GTA, where stealth bombers destroy 50 buildings and dynamically change the battle unlike MW2 where a wooden house can withstand a nuclear blast

  • ignatiusjreilly #18 2 years ago

    Well the had 64 on BF2 and it worked fine, so a few years on with the advances in BB tech we've had should be no problem. Will be epic

    Trouble is, that was a PC-exclusive game. If BF3 comes out on consoles, and it's looking like it will, what will happen? I don't think consoles could handle even the large maps and player count of BF2, so what are the chances of DICE increasing the scale of the game even further?

    I'm actually a bit worried about this. The thing that gives me hope is the quote: "What the PC version is going to be, Battlefield 3, I think it's going to absolutely blow everyone away" almost makes it sound like there will be separate PC and console versions of the game. But that hardly ever happens and seems like an expensive way to go about things...
    Edited by ignatiusjreilly at 04/08/10 @ 11:32

  • Dr.Mott #19 2 years ago

    But didn't Battlefield 2 have separate PC and console versions?

  • ignatiusjreilly #20 2 years ago

    I'm pretty sure Battlefield 2 (and BF1942, BF:Vietnam etc.) never came out on consoles. Bad Company was the first Battlefield console game.

    edit: No, you are right! Battlefield 2: Modern Combat came out for consoles - had never heard of that before now.
    Edited by ignatiusjreilly at 04/08/10 @ 12:03

  • metalangel #21 2 years ago

    Give Battlefield 3 MAPS some space, you means.

    You know, so we can approach objectives from different directions without 'YOU ARE LEAVING THE BATTLEFIELD I AM REMOTELY STRANGLING YOU' and without taking the same approach for the 20th time and being shot by a camping sniper again for the 20th time.

  • Shikasama #22 2 years ago

    Judging from the MOH trailer, it may aswell be Battlefield 3 anyway. Absolutely no point owning MOH if you have BFBC2.

  • Shikasama #23 2 years ago

    If Timmy has BFBC2, Jimmy and MOH and Dimmy has BF3, how many new maps do Dice make?

    None.

  • glaeken #24 2 years ago

    I am fairly sure BF2 was modded by some to support 128 players. I am sure I remember playing on the odd 128 player server.

  • TVoJ #25 2 years ago


    Trouble is, that was a PC-exclusive game. If BF3 comes out on consoles, and it's looking like it will, what will happen? I don't think consoles could handle even the large maps and player count of BF2, so what are the chances of DICE increasing the scale of the game even further?

    They could make the same game but increase the numbers for PC. In BF2 you could play the same map with 64,32, and 16 players. They just scaled the playable area of the map depending on how many players it was set for.
    I'm sure they could do exactly the same thing in order to accomodate all platforms.

    But you're right, they probably couldnt handle 128 on consoles. Anyone played MAG? Does it work? Allthough im sure you can't have 128 in the same active area can you?
    Edited by TVoJ at 04/08/10 @ 13:36

  • PapaSmurf630 #26 2 years ago

    I wouldn't be surprised if the PC version supported 64 player maps, with the consoles capped out at 32. I think anymore is a lot to ask.

    I would also expect to see an improved destruction system with slightly more dynamic physics attached to the buildings (as opposed to the largely pre-canned 'physics' they have at the moment)

    My brain is telling me these things as they have a brilliant engine in Frostbite and they only need to tweak it to get more performance out of it to enable larger amounts of players.

    But would performance tweaks really need '3 years in development'? I hope I have my mind blown.
    Edited by PapaSmurf630 at 04/08/10 @ 13:40

  • Absolvus #27 2 years ago

    I'm hoping they do this like BF2. BF3 in PC will use Frostbite 2 engine which is PC only (and next gen. console) and BF3 in console will use the current frostbite 1.5 (from BF:BC2), this way PC version could be tailored to for larger maps and better hardware.
    Edited by Absolvus at 04/08/10 @ 13:43

  • timberwolf #28 2 years ago

    i thought medal of honor WAS battlefield 3.

  • carlitoswagon #29 2 years ago

    Lick the sweat off the console ball bag my PC friends. Oh I laugh at the thought of muli-platform. Mooohhahahaha. Yes, yes, yes.........It WILL be shoehorned to fit our inferior consoles and our inability to find our way around large maps in the dark.....

    Hope they have Juggernaught and Stopping POWER!!!!!

    /goes back to playing Vacant & Crash on MW2



  • Gromit #30 2 years ago

    If they run dedicated servers like on MAG, then 128 players isn't a problem.

    There's no point in bitching about different platforms, it is highly likely to be a good game that all fps fans can enjoy.

  • Distributor #31 2 years ago

    "So, what do we know?"

    A multiplayer game maybe? With a single player campaign? Most likely it will involve shooting? And gaining ranks? and vehicles? And different weapons?

  • gremly #32 2 years ago

    Bring back dog fights!!!!

    I miss my fix-wing aircraft. Stupid Apache's!