In a post on the Battlefield Blog Karl Magnus Troedsson, DICE VP & Group GM announced that Battlefield: Hardline will be moving its launch date back from this October to early 2015. Citing the feedback received during the game’s beta, the delay is said to be intended to allow new features to be added to Battlefield: Hardline. The developer felt that they did not have enough time to implement all the new stuff they wanted to, so a delay has been issued.
Today we are announcing that Battlefield Hardline will launch in early 2015
EA and Battlefield: Hardline developer Viceral Games have received heavy criticism from the gaming community since the initial unveiling of the game at E3 2014. Many gamers felt that the game’s release was too soon after the previous title in the series, Battlefield 4, and that Hardline would not have enough new content to warrant the full price being asked. Also, the fact that Battlefield 4 has had technical and gameplay issues since its launch late last year didn’t help the matter. It seems like these criticisms did not fall on deaf ears since many of the changes being added have to do with adding content and fixing many of the lingering issues with Battlefield 4.
Troedsson listed just a few of the additions that this delay will allow them to implement:
1. Multiplayer Innovation: Coming out of our E3 beta, internal focus tests, and work with our community, we have received a lot of great Multiplayer thinking. We’re going to be adding some new feature ideas direct from the community that will evolve the cops and criminals fantasy into a truly unique Battlefield Multiplayer experience.
2. Single Player Story Depth: In order to ensure our Single Player experience delivers on player expectations, we’re spending more time polishing our core features, as well as adding a few new ones that will support a deeper “crime revenge” story experience.
3. Stability: 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. 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.
Troedsson goes on to say that the delay was done for one reason, “because we want Battlefield Hardline to be the best game it can be, and so that we can create the best environment for a smooth launch for our players.” He also assures fans that DICE is still working on Battlefield 4 and has not abandoned it due to the new game’s impending release. With Battlefield 4: Dragon’s Teeth arriving only days ago and Final Stand coming later this year, there is still a lot going on with Battlefield 4.
Battlefield: Hardline will now launch some time in early 2015 for PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC.
