Battlefield 4 Medal Honor Warfighter Beta

It may not have been unlikely that a Battlefield 4 would be in the works, considering how strongly EA is trying to take a fight to Activision. The publisher is apparently counting on both DICE's shooter and the next dose of Medal of Honor to draw in a crowd, if a now-removed advertisement is to be believed.

According to a brief post on EA's Origin client, those who pre-order a copy of Medal of Honor: Warfighter will receive access to the Battlefield 4 Beta.

The image was immediately pulled and replaced, implying that EA isn't quite ready to confirm the accidentally-on-purpose reveal that Battlefield 4 is, in fact, being developed. The publisher has already spilled the beans on a sequel to BF3, so the project being once again confirmed is not exactly a shock. But what it means for the game could speak volumes.

The image was captured by MP1st, and is more than definitive:

If Battlefield 4 actually was meant to be a secret - or at least less of a sure thing - then the developers at DICE probably wouldn't be so open about their plans for the future. The studio has already voiced their disappointment in the shortcomings of their work so far, and their expectation that the genre will start to stray from modern military settings.

The biggest disappointment if the pre-order incentive is accurate - aside from a new Bad Company game being doubtful - is that the time frame implies that Battlefield 4 will be coming on this generation of consoles. That news will no doubt come as bad news to console fans, considering just how high DICE's hopes for next-gen hardware already are.

How thrilled DICE must be is anyone's guess, if EA does have them working on yet another current-gen Battlefield title. That's obviously not an issue for PC gamers, with the graphical differences between console and PC well established. Whatever the case may be, EA isn't giving up the fight against Call of Duty, not while this generation is still running, at least.

There's always the chance that EA really did just jump the gun with their plan to link Warfighter pre-orders, since the move is a no-brainer whether or not BF4 is in production at all. EA hasn't made any official comment, and may not, but for now fans might be best to look forward to the upcoming year of BF3 DLC.

Battlefield 4 isn't likely to come any time soon, but we'll keep you updated.

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Source: MP1st