Karl Magnus Troedsson, General Manager of Battlefield developer DICE, posted a long blog on the Battlefield forums explaining why the Visceral Games team has decided to push the Battlefield Hardline launch window back into 2015. Essentially they want extra time to spit-polish the game, and to implement some ideas stemming from all the feedback they received during E3 2014.
“The more we thought about these ideas, the more we knew we had to get them into the game you will all be playing,” he wrote. “However, there was only one problem. We would need more time. Time that we didn’t have if we decided to move forward with launching in just a couple of months.”
The extra time means adding new feature ideas that come straight from the community that will “evolve the cops and criminals fantasy into a truly unique Battlefield Multiplayer experience.” The extra time will also enable a deeper “crime revenge” story in single-player campaign, and more polishing on core features. Stability will also benefit from added time.
“This has been a focus for our team since day one and we’re going to be using the extra time to continue to optimize the game for a stable launch” Troedsson wrote. “We have learned a lot from Battlefield 4, are continuing to learn from our Community Test Environment and will learn more from another Hardline beta. More time allows us to surface issues that the team can attempt to fix prior to launch.”
Meanwhile, Executive Producer Mark Darrah broke some depressing news to Dragon Age fans, reporting that Dragon Age: Inquisition will not be ready for purchase until November 18, 2014 here in North America and November 21 in Europe. Previously the game was slated for an October 7 release.
“We appreciate the enormous support we’ve received from all of you to get to this point, and while this extra few weeks may not seem like a lot, I know the game you’ll play will be all the better for it,” Darrah writes.
“I’m privileged to be a part of a team that has been working very hard to surpass every measure they’ve set for themselves,” he adds. “That has meant completing huge amounts of game content, fixing bugs both big and small, and improving the overall experience. This last bit of time is about polishing the experience we want you to see. Ensuring that our open spaces are as engaging as possible. Strengthening the emotional impact of the Hero's choices. And ensuring the experience you get is the best it can be in the platform you choose to play on.”
To read the full announcement, head here.
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