Bad Company 3 Battlefield 4 DICE

While much of the Battlefield series' history is steeped in massive online battles and stone-faced soldiers, many fans turn to the series' lighter offerings as its true high point. These lighter offerings are none other than the Bad Company games. Despite the immense love that gamers share for this series off-shoot, developer DICE has yet to tread that ground again because they're not exactly sure where this love stems from.

For some, the love of Battlefield: Bad Company comes from its focus on more arcade-like gameplay where explosions are bigger, badder and all-too-frequent. For others, it's the cast of lovable, oddball characters with their ample amounts of comic relief. Amidst the controversy surrounding upcoming title Battlefield Hardline's similarities to Battlefield 4, it's understandable that some gamers are holding out for Battlefield: Bad Company 3 and a return of the series.

Speaking to DICE General Manager Karl-Magnus Troedsson, Eurogamer has revealed that the company still has an interest in bringing Bad Company back but just isn't sure how to go about it.

"We hear those comments as well and see them. There were some people who were saying, 'why are you building Hardline? You should build Bad Company 3 instead.' We take all this into account when we think about the future, and do franchise strategy, but there's one thing that lingers with Bad Company that we've been asking ourselves: what is it that the people really liked about Bad Company?"

As such a serious departure from the series' past offerings, the facets of the game that gamers claim to love like its faster pace are much more varied and wide-ranging. It's not a simple thematic change that gamers yearn for, but rather a complete shift into territory that DICE and EA have not tread for years. In this, Troedsson understands that it's difficult for gamers to articulate exactly what it is that they loved when the titles represented such a fundamental shift.

While he claims that "it's scary to go back and try to remake an old fan favourite," he feels that seeing the characters of Bad Company return for a single-player experience would not be impossible. It's the implementation of a fundamentally different multiplayer that vexes the developers at DICE. This is not to say that rumors of the sub-series returning are simple flights of fancy though.

"The Bad Company sub brand is something we hold very near and dear. We'll take that into account when we think about the future. It's never dead. You can always revive it, as with any TV series, movie or IP. It's going to come down to, if people really want it and if a team inside my group really wants to build it, then sure."

With Battlefield Hardline attempting to make its campaign less linear and EA's CEO finally addressing Battlefield 4's many issues, it's possible that the military FPS franchise could finally be back on track. While it may not be an admission of involvement in a new Bad Company title, at least gamers can rest easy knowing that there's still hope.

Would you like to see DICE helm a new Battlefield: Bad Company title? What is it that you love about the lighthearted sub-series?

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Source:  Eurogamer