When Battlefield 4 went toe-to-toe with Call of Duty: Ghosts late last year, EA's offering was found somewhat wanting. While the game's multiplayer mode was a revelation — with "emergent" gameplay and rapidly changing arenas — the title was blighted by issues which prevented players from enjoying it as much as they could have done.
Speaking to Eurogamer, EA's Andrew Wilson has addressed the situation, stating that while EA and developer DICE both found it "unacceptable", neither would adopt the safe route to market — an apparent dig at rival Activision's 2014 Call of Duty offering, which arguably did little to push the series forward:
For me, the situation we had was unacceptable. For the team it was unacceptable. We have worked tirelessly since then to make sure the gameplay experience got to where it absolutely should have been at launch and we're focused on that and we continue to deliver value to that player base.
But when you do things like that you can never guarantee. It would be disingenuous for me to sit here and say, 'we will never have an issue again,' because that would mean we were never going to push the boundaries again. And I don't want to be that company. I want to be a company that pushes to lead and innovate and be creative. But you can start to do things that give you a better handle and a better view about what the potential challenges might be.
You could go down the really conservative path, which some people did in the industry, and your game didn't have any of those problems, but you also got the feedback of, it just feels the same as it used to. Or, you could push the boundaries and end up in the situation we ended up in. Neither is good. But I would like to be in the company pushing the boundaries.
EA and DICE are no doubt trying to calm fears that Battlefield: Hardline — the next game in the franchise — won't suffer from the same problems that its forerunner did. Speaking in the same interview, DICE boss Karl-Magnus Troedsson was keen to stress that the company is in a much better position with Hardline, which is being developed alongside Dead Space studio Visceral:
...we are in such a good position right now. Battlefield 4 is stable. It's a good experience. All those fixes are going straight into Hardline. Most of them are already in there. We have a lot of people still working on BF4. Everything is going in the right direction here. But yes we absolutely have this as a focus for us. Launching this game needs to be different than BF4.
Were you one of the many people who felt burned by Battlefield 4's launch problems? Has your experience with the game influenced your purchasing decision on Battlefield: Hardline? Unload a full clip in the comments section to let us know.
[source eurogamer.net]
Comments 12
Not going down the Call of Duty route? Too late, they already have. As for Buggyfield 4, they've accepted it but will they learn from it?
I still haven't got it, I'm waiting until it actually works first
There are no bugs on bf4 anymore and no rubberbanding in 64 player and its been that way for a few months now, I'm still loving the game anyhow see you in the field x
Looks like it's time to go back to the battlefield again then.
I don't get this, they already release a battlefield every freakin year, so what in the heck are they talking o.O
Also, yes there is still a bit of rubberbanding, not as much as it use to be, but it's still there.
add me Dub-Focus for hardline or 4 guys
Battlefield 1942 was a revelation, a game-changer back in the day,
Vietnam built on it, 2142 put it all into sci-fi setting, from then on it was all downhill. EA sucks, they're milking this dead. Battlefield Hardline has NOTHING to do with what Battlefield was originally about, they are just using the name to sell a mediocre shooter. I ALWAYS was on the BF side, but I might switch to Call of Duty this year (if I care about those shooters at all anymore).
It's okay for them to say it was unacceptable when they already released the game . What an empty comment , they obviously don't think it was that unacceptable if they still released the game . I play bf4 on ps3 and its simply unplayable . The lag and glitches are so bad I've had to resort back to playing bf3. After spending nearly £100 on bf4 I feel I've have been robbed my dice and ea , they are a bunch of thiefs that should have never released such a broken game . They may be working hard to fix these problems but I think it's fair to say it's too little too late !!!
@martinblake91
EXACTLY! If it's so "unacceptable", then don't release the product!!! What a disengenious douchebag. I learned my lesson with BF3. I am avoiding this series like the plague now.
I bought BF4 for the PS4 launch and didnt have all that many problems with it, just some latency which is probably down to my internet speed. I'm also playing the Hardline beta now and loving it, hopefully this will be an odd title being only a year since the last one. Seems stupid to expect people to buy a new one when the last DLC probably wont even be out for BF4. That being said, BF is my go-to online game so I can see myself being gullible.
I've always enjoyed CoD and BF.. I can see why BF fans are unhappy with the direction, but I for one like this idea. Unlike CoD they are trying something a bit different without totally ripping off other games i.e. CoD Advanced Titanfall.. It does seem to be a bit PayDay'ish but it's certainly a buy for me in a year where I will skip CoD for the first time ever.
God I miss the good old CoD 4 days :-/
Edit: that was sort of a response to Scollurio's post lol, I'm a bit tipsy.. I will wait before a purchase of hardline as I bought BF4 for XB1 and it was a massive waste of my money as the servers where absolute dumpster scrapings and Game Stop gave me $25 for a game I shelled out $60 for. EA is quite shifty, and always hit and miss as far as I am concerned so I will be skeptical. Again as for CoD Advanced Titanfall.... Yea I'm all set Sledgehammer, you can shove that piece of steaming unoriginal turd right back where it belongs.. In the colon of Shia LaBeouf!
I own b4 but rarely play it..Never noticed any lag.
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