As eyes now look towards Battlefield Hardline, Visceral Game’s recently unveiled Battlefield project due out this Fall, DICE vice president and general manager Karl Magnus Troedsson wants dedicated fans to know that the studio is in no way done working on Battlefield 4.
“By now, many of you have probably heard about the next title in the Battlefield series, Battlefield Hardline,” Troedsson wrote in an open letter to Battlefield fans. “The Visceral Studio team has done an amazing job of bringing in a completely new concept while staying true to the Battlefield core gameplay pillars.”
“I’ve been working with Visceral GM Steve Papoutsis and his team for several years on the cops vs. criminals concept and we think you guys are going to love it,” he continued. “We’ve always dared to try new settings and experiences with Battlefield and seeing this new one take shape is a long lasting dream come true.
“That said, I want to be sure you all understand that introducing Hardline in no way means we’re done working on Battlefield 4. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Visceral team is leading the development of Hardline, while the DICE team continues to drive BF4. We are committed to giving you the best BF4 experience possible.”
Troedsson went on to detail some of the key plans put in place to ensure a continued positive experience with one of 2013’s biggest shooters.
Continued Support
“There are dedicated BF4 teams in Stockholm, Uppsala and LA that will continue to address any issues that might occur. But more importantly will also look to make significant additions to the game.”
Netcode Patch
“We are also working on a major update to the Battlefield 4 netcode.”
Community Test Environment
“We launched and are planning to expand our Community Test Environment. You can see the CTE as our labs environment in which we’ll continue testing out new additions, improvements etc. before we go live with them. We’re expanding the CTE program to give more and more players the chance to test new additions.”
More Features
“Other features rolled out recently such as Squad Join, Rent-A-Server and Loadout Presets, many which have been directly requested by you in the community. This trend will continue.”
Already, we’ve seen participants of the Battlefield 4 Community Test Environment express their satisfaction with the ongoing improvements, the most notable being an increase in server tick rate which, in turn, is leading to a better online experience. By the sounds of Troedsson’s note, those improvements may be making their way over to the general player base some time soon. We’ll have to keep our eyes open for details.
Meanwhile, we are also awaiting more details on Battlefield 4’s upcoming multiplayer expansion, Dragon’s Teeth, which was briefly teased in the latest Battlefield 4 Premium trailer.
“Yes, we’re very excited to partner with Visceral on the development of Battlefield Hardline,” Troedsson said in closing. “But ongoing work to refine and enhance BF4 remains a top priority.”
You can read his full sentiments over on the Battlefield Blog.