Battlefield 3: Close Quarters PlayStation Network

Released on TBD

• Battlefield 3 'Matches' on the horizon

  A new 'Matches' feature is coming to Battlefield 3, according to developers DICE, aiming to better organise and personalise multiplayer battles.

  The new feature will allow players to choose the time, server, game settings and more when playing online. It'll increased personalisation for everything from start time, game mode and even the Match name, and allow you to create rosters from your list of friends and platoon members.

  All of this is designed to allow players "to coordinate competitive multiplayer sessions with their friends and squad members", and "put their teamwork to the test in controlled environments laying claim to definitive superiority and creating new grudges". All results can be tracked in Battlelog afterwards, although a 'Warm-Up Phase' will be avaialble so you can practice before commiting your performance to record.

  More details will be coming soon, but between this and Battlefield Premium, which launched last month, EA and DICE are clearly putting a lot into extending the lifespan of Battlefield 3 online.
  

  Published: 06/07/2012

• EA commits to support Battlefield 3, even when Battlefield 4 comes out

  EA set war-hungry gamers squealing with delight when it confirmed a fourth Battlefield game was in development for 2013, but some fans expressed concern that this meant the current title, the rather excellent Battlefield 3, would be abandoned.

  Not so, says community manager Ian Tornay, who took to the official Battlefield blog to put minds at rest. "We are committed to providing an excellent Battlefield 3 experience well into the future, past the releases of Aftermath, End Game and Battlefield 4," he said. "DICE is continuing its work on Battlefield 3 alongside Battlefield 4. Most importantly, official details regarding Battlefield 4 will always be made available on Battlefield.com and here on the Battlefield Blog. We expect that the level of interest in Battlefield 4 will lead to a lot of speculation and rumour - don't fall for it!"

  Battlefield 3 is currently in the midst of receiving a series of additional content packs, with new maps and modes planned for the rest of this year and beyond.

  For those who can't wait to get their hands on Battlefield 4, right now the only way to make that happen is to pre-order the upcoming Medal of Honor: Warfighter, which comes with access to the Battlefield 4 beta trials.

  Battlefield 4 is expected to land in the Autumn of 2013. Medal of Honor: Warfighter is out this year, on October 23rd, for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

• EA doesn't want DICE to become a "Battlefield factory"

  Swedish developer DICE is best known these days for the hugely popular Battlefield series, but it seems the studio hopes that won't always be the case. In an interview with Official Xbox Magazine, Patrick Soderlund, vice president of DICE owner EA Games, was asked if it was important for DICE to have the security of Battlefield's success as a way of investing in less mainstream projects.

  "Maybe it is and maybe it isn't," Soderlund replied. "It's also important for us - the DICE guys are roughly 300 people in the Stockholm studio; not all of them are working on Battlefield things, and that's intentional, because we don't want to become a Battlefield factory. The minute we start saying 'you're going to make a Battlefield game for the rest of your life', they're going to go some place else."

  "For them to make great Battlefield games there need to be other things for them to do as well. That's why we have people who move around quite a bit. And then obviously we have a boatload of people that just want to make Battlefield because they love it."

  DICE is currently hard at work on Battlefield 4, slated for release some time before March 2014. The studio has reassured fans that the launch of a new game in the series won't affect support for Battlefield 3, which gains its latest map pack - Aftermath - next week.

  Published: 21/11/2012

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