With consoles receiving a lot of preferential treatment lately, it's no surprise that PC gamers immediately questioned the development focus of DICE's upcoming Battlefield installment. Fortunately, Game Informer affirms that the title is being crafted with PC gamers in mind. "We won't make it for console and port it to PC – that's not how we do things," said executive producer Patrick Bach. "We're focusing on PC first, and then we fiddle with it to fit it onto consoles."
The studio was serious when it said it wanted to build the best Battlefield ever. Battlefield 3 has been on the whiteboard for years and its team is twice the size of BFBC2's. DICE has been waiting to harness the power of Frostbite 2.0 and the company shared some impressive details about BF3. For starters, it reportedly features improved lighting elements, with one "probe" containing more lighting information than an entire level of 2010's Battlefield: Bad Company 2.
The game is expected to launch in Q4 2011 with an M rating and features co-op play, four classes, more unlockables and better, more immediate post-release content than BFBC2, along with well-balanced character customization that doesn't rely on "pink rabbit hats." Level destruction has been cranked up, character animations are more realistic courtesy of EA Sports' ANT engine, war sounds have been captured at various distances to ensure realism, and improved audio cues.
The PC version has 64-person multiplayer while consoles will be limited to 24 (supposedly because console gamers are happy with that). Settings will include New York, Paris, Tehran, Sulaymaniyah, and Iraqi Kurdistan, but it isn't clear if any of these will be specific to single or multiplayer. Mod tools won't be available at launch – if ever – because Frostbite 2.0 is said to be too complex and DICE would rather focus on polishing the game instead of simplifying its dev tools.