EA recently officially announced Battlefield 4 recently, the follow up to 2011′s mega-hit Battlefield 3. However, despite BF3′s acclaim, BF4 is not getting a good wrap. Not at all. Common fan complaints are that DICE skipped Bad Company 3 and BF2143 to make a new core game. Another favourite is that the game is coming too soon.
What people have failed to realise, however, is that Battlefield 4 is not coming out tomorrow. Or the next week. Or next month. Battlefield 4′s Beta is due during the Fall 2013 period. Fall being September-October. The same time period as the Battlefield 3 beta. Battlefield 3 launched in October 2011, so we can assume that BF4 will launch in October 2013, as it follows EA’s latest pattern.
Fans are also disappointed at the fact that the new Battlefield is indeed Battlefield 4, not BC3 or BF2143. For starters, how do we know? BF4 would be in an early stage of development, and Battlefield 4 could be a working title. There is no word on what BF4 actually is yet. Battlefield 4 could be a working title or temporary way to stop people from learning about the game.
The other major complaint is that Battlefield: Premium has just launched. Battlefield Premium is a one time fee, a discount which gives almost half price to all the content of the game? EA advertised exactly what you would get, and the numbers seem to call it a success. The content was clearly outline at launch, and Battlefield 4 coming will not remove the content we bought. Additionally, BF4 is expected to launch at minimum during October 2013, and the last BF3 content pack comes out in March, a full 7 months beforehand. People will be sick of BF3 and focused on BF4 long after March. Premium is still excellent value for money.
With the October 2013 prediction, this means two years between BF3 and BF4, with no other Battlefield in between. There was only 18 months between BFBC2 and BF3, and only 1 year between BC2 and 1943. And only one year between 1943 and the first Bad Company. So why are people suddenly complaining about a double length development cycle and calling it rushed? To put things in perspective, there was little over two years between each Mass Effect game and each maintains some of the highest standards in the industry. There was six months between GTA 4′s DLC’s and somehow they turned out fine. There was 2 years between Batman: Arkham games and they both won Game of the Year awards. Two years is plenty of time for developers to build brilliant games. The engine is among the most modern out there, so no work needs to be done there. Feedback between DICE and players has been constant since launch, and no doubt this feedback is being put in BF4 right now.
There is no doubt Battlefield 4 will be of a high quality and sell millions of copies. No doubt fans will be happy. So why are people complaining? Check your facts: Battlefield 4 is not coming out this year. EA have “Call of Duty’d” the franchise. This game has a longer development cycle then fan favourite Bad Company 2. So just wait and see what the new game brings and don’t focus on it too much now.
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9 Comments
You mean EA HAVEN’T “Call of Duty’d” the franchise, because it’s releasing 2 years after the last, unlike CoD annual November release, and each game is radically better than the last and a big step forward, unlike MW3 vs MW2 as MW3 could have actually (not even exaggerating for effect) been a huge DLC upgrade for MW2 as Fenix Rising was for Gears 3, they could have just put Strike Packages and Wager Matches and Story Missions in afterwards and it’d be IDENTICAL
I don’t think it will be a 2013 release; but a 2014 release. This is because it can be anytime in fall and I think 3 years is a reasonable time.
I think that it will release in 2014. This is because the beta can be anytime in fall and a 3 year gap is good.
Who wrote this article? Whoever wrote this clearly has no idea what the bf community is like. Fan are complaining because EA is continuously fragmenting the community. BF3 premium is a huge example of that. By releasing another CORE game so soon means that the community will be split again. True there were releases in the past like bc 1943 and bc2 but they weren’t core games and not everyone in the bf community invested in them. This is why people are complaining. I don’t doubt that EA will make a lot of money this way but the core fans will be upset. Unfortunately we’re not always their priority.
No, this is the point I’m making. How does releasing Premium fragment the community? Buying BF4 doesn’t remove or deactivate your BF3 Premium or any of it’s content. “Core Fans” would likely buy the DLC anyway, so Premium saved them a few dollars.
I for one DO think they’re aiming squarely at COD, but am also disappointed that this probably won’t be another Bad Company game. The last one had such a great script and managed to bring several of my online buddies together for epic fights. Hell half my friends list on PSN is down to Battlefield.
In a nutshell; I trust DICE, I just don’t trust EA and their ‘Money first’ approach.
Why do people want Bad Company 3 so much? How is it different from what BF4 could be? We all know no hardcore BF fans actually play the campaign anyway.
BF3 was just a niceish looking, crap game. its designed for newbies and abusers with all the stupid rockets and snipers. i think most FPS gamers are just pussies who hide in corridors these days. there hasnt been a decent BF game since 2142 (IMO their best and most fun game) but a lot of that was down to a lot less idiots playing and some actual teamwork, which dice all but removed from bf3. BF is a squad based shooter. not a lone wolf campfest. i wont be buying bf4.
You mean EA HAVEN’T “Call of Duty’d” the franchise, because it’s releasing 2 years after the last, unlike CoD annual November release, and each game is radically better than the last and a big step forward, unlike MW3 vs MW2 as MW3 could have actually (not even exaggerating for effect) been a huge DLC upgrade for MW2 as Fenix Rising was for Gears 3, they could have just put Strike Packages and Wager Matches and Story Missions in afterwards and it’d be IDENTICAL….people like this are retarded and its fukkin annoying to hear..you cannot say modern warfare is a yearly release and it was hardly an expansion…you have multiple companies putting out their own games in the franchise but modern warfare drops every 2 years as well…a whole extra year(3) would be pointless for cod bnut bf3 def could have used the polishing…i am still plagued by bugs daily and their patches especially endgame patches dont work period!!( choppers still blow up when tv missile fired nd sound cuts out constantly)to say mw3 is like mw2 is like me saying bfbc2 is bf3, to people who dont play it looks almost exaactly the same..not too much was changed..just enough to get fresh and thats all that matters..grow up nd quit crying like bitches