Following this weekend’s Battlefield 4 outing through a Medal of Honor: Warfighter pre-order advertisement, EA and DICE’s element of surprise in releasing any “official” announcement regarding the shooter’s existence was whittled down to zero – despite swiftly replacing the squib in a matter of minutes.
Nonetheless, Electronic Arts has now confirmed that Battlefield 4 is in development. In fact they did so by verifying the aforementioned Battlefield 4 beta keys, available in pre-orders of Warfighter’s “Limited Edition.”
No new details were released on Battlefield 4 itself – those are scheduled to “be revealed at a later date,” according to the EA press release – but we can begin to theorize when the shooter will start hitting stores.
The availability of the beta was confirmed for “Fall 2013,” and if we remember back to the Battlefield 3 beta in 2011, that one had a September 29 release to coincide with BF3′s full launch on October 25. Battlefield 3 beta keys were even a pre-order perk for 2010′s Medal of Honor Limited Edition. With EA having lapsed into an annual autumn grove – Medal of Honor, Battlefield 3, and now Medal of Honor: Warfighter all adhere to the October release window – Battlefield 4 might be arriving sooner than some of us expected.
And so might the chatter. According to a CVG report, DICE has carved out GDC Europe, which runs from August 13-15 this Summer, as an event to spotlight the Battlefield franchise. Studio boss Karl Magnus Troedsson will be helming a speaker session, in which the event’s organizer asserts he’ll focus on “how to innovate in a long running franchise, build and support a loyal fan base, and transform gaming from a fire-and-forget business to living, breathing entertainment entity.”
Granted, that all sounds like what the company has already done with Battlefield 3. When the game released to stellar reviews and sterling sales last year, EA and DICE achieved what Modern Combat, Bad Company and Bad Company 2 never could: they made the Battlefield name gold-plated on both consoles and the PC. It’s entirely possible, then, that the developer is headed to GDC Europe only to reminisce and perhaps leaven out more on Battlefield Premium and its next DLC.
But as the developer begins to navigate those transitory waters – segueing from the most successful installment in Battlefield history to a game that no doubt aims to be bigger, better, more consuming of the Call of Duty pie – the first Battlefield 4 details are bound to slip out at some point. If October’s Medal of Honor: Warfighter, like its predecssor, serves as a one-year countdown, GDC isn’t a bad place to start.
Ranters, now that EA has officially confirmed Battlefield 4, are you ready for more concrete info the game? Is it still too soon with Battlefield 3 in full swing, or might GDC Europe see some action for the next installment in the legendary franchise?
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Follow me on Twitter @Brian_Sipple.
Source: CVG
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It’s too early to release any BF4 information. That would take attention away from BF3 Premium. EA and DICE should release more information on BF4 sometime in early 2013.
Is it me or it just feels like they took are money on the premium and run towards making another game, rather then focusing on premium content.
It’s definitely just you. There will be plenty of content that Premium members will receive (5 map packs total, plus several bonuses). DICE already had/has plenty of money to develop BF4.
Yes we heard about the 5 maps the first pack was cool and all. The quantity of the maps sound good but I don’t know if the quality will be amazing since they are already focusing on a new game. Does this mean all the map packs are already finished and went through a rigorous testing phase or are they still in production. If they are still production, I don’t understand why would EA jump the gun and focus on a new battlefield to me that feels like abandonment from the quality game that they promised to focus on.
I’m predicting that all of the DLC packs will be awesome. They each have a different theme, bringing new things to the game. I’m not sure if they have the last 3 done or if they’re still working on them. I agree with your last sentence.
Typical EA; It’s too soon in my opinion, they should wait another good 4 or 5 years.