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Medal of Honor may be temporarily dead (again) but Battlefield lives on as Electronic Arts' answer to Activision's Call of Duty. While Black Ops 2 explored a near-future setting, a first for the COD series, EA and Swedish developer DICE have already been down that path with Battlefield 2142 over six years ago, a game that let players operate mechs alongside tanks.

Since that PC-only release, the Battlefield series has stuck to a modern setting with the Bad Company games and the publisher's fastest-selling game ever, Battlefield 3. The latter of which will enjoy its final piece of DLC content this month with "End Game." Strangely enough, the DLC includes a reminder of Battlefield 2142 and maybe even a hint of what's to come.

One of the good things that came with Medal of Honor: Warfighter, for players who pre-ordered the title, was guaranteed access to the Battlefield 4 beta, a game we have still yet to see a single bit of information from. Retailers participated in a presentation recently and were the first to see the secretive next game, but EA has managed to keep a lid on any potential leaks.

Thanks to the video up top, fans are speculating on the out of place drone hovering around Kharg Island. Notice anything familiar?

Battlefield 3 End Game 2143 Easter Egg

What piques our curiosity with this discovery is that while the craft bears the European Union (EU) - a fictional faction from Battlefield 2142 - this particular vehicle is not from that game. With Battlefield 4 still yet to be announced, with EA opting to not unveil the game at Sony's PlayStation 4 event two weeks ago, does this Easter Egg left in by the developer in the last bit of BF3 content hint at something much, much larger?

It seems odd that a quickly-released Battlefield 4 will do the same as Battlefield 3 with the same modern guns, modern setting, some modern vehicles on the same Frostbite 2 engine. It needs to do something different so it doesn't cannibalize its own fanbase, a fanbase they can continue to support alongside BF4.

EA has expressed interest in a future setting although DICE general manager Karl Magnus Troedsson went on record last summer stating that BF4 will continue to embrace a modern setting. Our question is whether or not there's any chance Battlefield 4 can take place further into the future than we may have thought, perhaps including the European Union (EU) and Pan Asian Coalition (PAC) factions. Or, like the dinosaur Easter Egg in BF3: Armored Kill, is this just for fun?

Follow me on Twitter @rob_keyes and let me know if Battlefield 4 should take place in the future!

Source: KingEmpirePure (hat tip Lyle)