EA announced today that Battlefield 3 will receive three expansion packs throughout the year; the expansion packs are subtitled, Close Quarters, Armored Kill, and End Game.

After going Back to Karkand, Battlefield 3 players can expect three more expansion packs for Battlefield 3. As Patrick Bach reiterate DICE’s desire to make expansion packs rather than map pack by stating, “instead of delivering piecemeal map packs, we’re giving players a completely new experience with every themed expansion pack to keep the action fresh. Our expansions are designed to excite our large and active fan base while attracting new recruits with gameplay that is dynamic and unpredictable every time.” The first expansion pack, Close Quarters, will release in June, and will be focused on infantry combat. The second expansion pack, Armored Kill, will drop in the fall, and as the name suggests, vehicles will play a prominent role. In the winter, Battlefield 3 players will be treated to the third expansion pack, the End Game.

Expansion packs are described as follows:

• Battlefield 3: Close Quarters — In Battlefield 3: Close Quarters, players are dropped into a frantic, infantry-only theater of war. Frostbite 2 high definition destruction makes the environment come alive as everything from furniture to plaster gets shot to pieces. Players will feel the intensity of the world exploding around them as rubble and broken pieces pile up on the floor, while tight level design and vertical gameplay create a highly competitive environment. Battlefield 3:Close Quarters also introduces new weapons, assignments and unique dog tags to bring back to the base game.
• Battlefield 3: Armored Kill — Following the tight infantry gameplay of Battlefield 3: Close Quarters, DICE will release Battlefield 3: Armored Kill that ups the ante for vehicular mayhem as only Battlefield can do. Featuring new driveable tanks, ATVs, mobile artillery and more, Battlefield 3: Armored Kill also delivers huge battlefields for an all-out vehicle assault, including the biggest map in Battlefield history.
• Battlefield 3: End Game — The fourth expansion pack will ship in the winter but details remain tightly guarded.

On another note, private servers for consoles are indeed coming. After months of teasing, EA stated, “a fully integrated rent-a-server program for console players will be available for gamers to play online with friends the way they want to play in either private, public, ranked or unranked matches.”