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Battlefield 3 Premium hits 2.9 million subscribers, earns $108 million for EA
As part of its fiscal third quarter earnings release (PDF), EA has revealed that the Battlefield 3 Premium service has garnered a total of 2.9 million subscribers, nearly a million more than the publisher reported in October. Additionally, the service has netted Electronic Arts $108 million in sales.Available either as an individual $50 purchase or as an included bonus with the Battlefield 3 Premium Edition, the Battlefield 3 Premium service offers in-game items, access to DLC and special Battlelog features like the ability to reset stats and gain server queue priority.
Battlefield 3 'End Game' DLC dubbed 'lethal high-speed warfare'
More information has been released regarding the contents of Battlefield 3's final DLC pack "End Game," which is still slated for March 2013. Specifically, End Game will include four new maps "designed for high speed combat and action," according to the announcement, as well as three new vehicles, a support dropship with the ability to deliver vehicles and the addition of Capture the Flag as a playable mode.As always, End Game will be available for "free" to anyone with a Battlefield Premium membership/subscription/dark pact, though normal folk will need to pony up some cash for the right to ride a dirt bike into a hail of bullets, which doesn't really sound like the best idea if we're being honest.
EA Christmas sale offers cheap Origin games every day in Europe
Starting on December 1 and running until December 25, European consumers can take advantage of exclusive daily deals on Origin, including "pre-order bonuses, discounts on top new titles and franchises, partner promotions and many more."The sale will end on Christmas day with a 50% off deal on the entire Origin catalog. Other highlights include up to 50% off select Battlefield 3 items on December 5, £40 worth of voucher codes when you pre-order Crysis 3 on December 12 and a "buy one, get more" deal on December 22 – buy one game, get 20% off; buy two games, get 30% off; buy three or more and get half-off.
PSA: Battlefield 3: Aftermath available today on PS3; Dec. 4 on Xbox 360, PC
Battlefield 3's "Aftermath" DLC pack will be available later today for those with a PlayStation 3. The DLC includes four earthquake ravaged maps and a crossbow. There's also a new game mode called "Scavenger," which tasks players armed only with pistols to search for more powerful weapons.
EA: DICE doesn't want to be a 'Battlefield factory'
DICE's Stockholm studio has 300 people and no, not all of them are working on Battlefield content, EA Games Vice President Patrick Soderlund tells OXM. DICE launched Mirror's Edge in 2008, but since then it's been all Battlefield, all the time, with Battlefield 4 scheduled for beta next fall.Asked whether taking a risk on a Mirror's Edge-type game is worth it when Battlefield is so lucrative, Soderlund responds, "Well it depends, right? Maybe it is and maybe it isn't. 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."One way to circumvent the transition to "Battlefield factory" is to develop a sequel to Mirror's Edge – which is exactly what former Battlefield executive producer Ben Cousins says DICE is doing. "It is general knowledge in the Stockholm dev scene that Mirror's Edge 2 is in production at DICE," he tweets.It's worth noting that Cousins isn't with EA anymore, but he is based in Sweden.
Infinity Ward animator talks first-person flourishes
Chance Glasgo, a first-person animator at Infinity Ward, did a Reddit Ask Me Anything thread last weekend, taking on questions about the complicated weapon animations seen in games like Call of Duty and Battlefield. You should read through the whole thread if you're interested, but PC Gamer has kindly grabbed some of the most fascinating insights.Glasgo says that "most serial numbers on guns in CoD have significance" of some kind, whether it's just a reference to his workout gym of choice, or a hint to something in the game's larger mythology.He also explains that while gun aficionados will often tell him he's made some sort of technical mistake in rendering realistic weapons, the choice to do things differently is simply creative. For example, you're never supposed to point a real gun anywhere but forward even while reloading it, but following that rule would make some of these just so ... boring.
Battlefield 1942 free on Origin
Battlefield 1942 is currently free on Electronic Arts' Origin digital distribution system. The gratis download is in celebration of the Battlefield series' 10 year anniversary and Battlefield 3 Premium's 2 million members making bank for the publisher.According to EA, Battlefield 3 has sold over 17 million copies so far. The game's latest expansion, Aftermath, begins its month-long release campaign at the end of the month.%Gallery-168641%
EA posts $381 million loss in Q2, offset by 38.5% digital upswing
Electronic Arts posted a net loss of $381 million for the second fiscal quarter ending September 30, a year-on-year increase of 12.1 percent. Net revenue also suffered a slight decline, down to $711 million from $715 million for the same period last year.The company did enjoy an upswing in digital sales this quarter, with a 38.5 percent rise in digital revenue from last year's Q2, and mobile digital revenue up 36.4 percent. EA's online boom was offset by a retail decline, with "Publishing Packaged Goods and Other Net Revenue" down year-on-year by 18.9 percent.Software-wise, FIFA 13 scored 7.4 million sales (excluding mobile downloads) in its first four weeks, while Battlefield 3 Premium subscriptions are now over the 2 million mark. EA is, however, bracing itself for a "soft" Q3 following the the weak critical reception to Medal of Honor: Warfighter and the cancellation of NBA Live 13.
Battlefield 3 Premium sells 2M subscriptions, FIFA 13 sells 7.4M units
Electronic Arts announced massive sales for its Battlefield and FIFA franchises as part of its second quarter earnings today. Battlefield 3 Premium, which had over 1.3 million subscribers in late July, now has surpassed 2 million.The publisher also announced that FIFA 13 has gone on to sell 7.4 million units (excluding mobile downloads) during its first four weeks on the retail field. This makes the latest installment in the footie franchise the "biggest sports launch of all time" for the company.Oh, and don't you fret none about the legacy versions of those two franchises. Battlefield 3 and FIFA 12 together sold "nearly 4 million units" since April, the beginning of EA's current fiscal year.
Battlefield 3: Aftermath starts rolling out November 27, details unearthed [update: correction]
It's been a while since we heard anything about Battlefield 3 post-earthquake expansion Aftermath, but today EA grounded out some more details to us, including a release date of November 27 for PS3 Premium members. We also have a debut trailer to enjoy along with new screenshots below.The new mode is called Scavenger, a Conquest variation which ties into the expansion's setting of a devastated Tehran. You play as a lost soldier, armed only with a pistol and forced to search the rubble to find more powerful weaponry. If you're lucky, you might stumble across the scoped crossbow featured in the trailer.The expansion adds four new maps, including the reasonably self-descriptive Epicenter and Markaz Market Monolith. There are also three new vehicles, ten new assignments, ten new dog tags, and five achievements/trophies. EA says Aftermath 'starts' releasing on November 27, first for PS3 Premium members, which translated means we can likely expect the same week-by-week roll-out as before. When it does find its way to you, it'll cost $14.99 on PS3 and PC, and 1200 MSP on Xbox 360.Update: EA notes the Markaz Monolith map was incorrectly denoted in the information provided to us.
Armored Kill update inbound, rolls out tomorrow for PC, consoles
Battlefield 3's 'Armored Kill' DLC is finally out across all platforms, meaning its finally ready to handle some updates. A server update will start taking effect tomorrow, October 11, at 4:30 a.m. ET, and should take roughly six hours to fully roll out worldwide. PC updates will hit within 24 hours. Battlefield 3 and Battlelog will be inaccessible on PC and consoles from 4 – 4:30 a.m. ET tomorrow for backend maintenance.The update adds a balance tweak to the gunship, adds an option to remove the minimap in Hardcore mode, fixes a bug that allowed only one knife takedown on a server at a time, improves server stability and more, as listed here.
EA buys Battlelog developer
Electronic Arts has acquired Battlelog developer ESN. Battlelog is Battlefield 3's stat-tracking and social system behind the game on PC, while on consoles it... you know, still not entirely sure what the point was. Something extraneous to sign up for?"We couldn't be more excited about this opportunity and the team is looking forward to focus all of its energy on DICE, Battlelog and the Battlefield series," ESN wrote in its announcement of the deal. "As we're teaming up with EA and DICE, we are looking for more talented developers and designers to join our studio and help create some of the best online game services out there."EA's upcoming shooter Medal of Honor: Warfighter will also support Battlelog.
Battlefield series on sale today through Origin
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Battlefield franchise, Electronic Arts has deployed a sale for the series on Origin, with each installment available at $10 apiece. That means Battlefield 2 through Battlefield 3 (standard edition), which sounds like it would only be two games, but is actually several, are all the same price.The discount is only available today, so you better oscar mike to Origin if you're interested. Did we "oscar mike" that right? No?! We've learned nothing!
Battlefield 3 Premium Edition now $59.99, launches today
EA has knocked $10 off its Battlefield 3 re-release, the company announced today. Battlefield 3 Premium Edition was first announced back in August as a $69.99 package, but the publisher has reduced the price of admission to $59.99.Battlefield 3 Premium Edition combines DICE's latest shooter with a Premium membership, necessary to access all of the game's expansions such as the previously released Back to Karkand and Close Quarters, this week's vehicle-based Armored Kill, and the next two packs set to drop later this year, Endgame and Aftermath. A "Multiplayer Head Start Kit" is also included in the package, unlocking "15 different weapons, gadgets and vehicle upgrades" in-game to fast-track newbies to the front lines.Battlefield 3 Premium Edition is available today on the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.
Battlefield: Armored Kill rolls out launch trailer, wide release to take weeks
The launch trailer for Battlefield 3's Armored Kill downloadable content hit today, although defining it as a "launch trailer" is being quite liberal with that word.It's certainly launching day for Premium PS3 subscribers, but Xbox 360 and PC Premium subscribers will need to wait another week until September 11. The non-premium grunts will jump into the pack on September 18 for PS3 and September 25 for Xbox 360 and PC. We think that about covers it for the "launch."
Battlefield 3 'Armored Kill' dated, get in line for access September 4
Battlefield 3's Armored Kill downloadable content has one of many release dates, with Premium subscribers on PlayStation 3 obtaining first access on September 4. Xbox 360 and PC Premium subscribers have to wait another week until September 11. Premium subscribers receive a two week jump on everyone else, with regular releases of September 18 for PS3 and September 25 for Xbox 360 and PC.Armored Kill is the third DLC pack for Battlefield 3 after Back to Karkand and Close Quarters. Apart from four new maps, including the biggest in the series' history, Armored Kill will offer a ton of new vehicles for players to drive, fly, and generally blow up. Also included is the new Tank Superiority mode, which is effectively a King of the Hill take on Battlefield 1943's Air Superiority but, you know, with tanks.
Battlefield 3 quadruples the official DICE server count on consoles
Looking for some more variety in game modes? DICE has upped the number of official servers for Battlefield 3 on consoles – four-fold. Quick matches will still drop you into the first available ranked server, rented or not, but if you input "DICE" when searching, it should list all the available DICE servers.You'll find these newly-added DICE servers available on Xbox 360 and PS3 as of right now, the Battlefield Blog says. There's no word on whether DICE will be instituting a similar measure on the PC.
Battlefield 3 Premium Edition coming September for $70
A new version of Battlefield 3, the Battlefield 3 Premium Edition, will arrive this September, executive producer Patrick Bach announced during EA's Gamescom press conference. As the title implies, the Premium Edition includes a membership to the Battlefield Premium service which, in turn, grants access to new expansions, including Back to Karkand, Close Quarters, and the upcoming Armored Kill, End Game and Aftermath.The Premium Edition also features the "Multiplayer Head Start Kit," which includes "15 different weapons, gadgets and vehicle upgrades." The Battlefield 3 Premium Edition will launch on PC, Xbox and PS3 this September for $70 in North America, €60 in Europe and £50 in the UK.
How Mirror's Edge gave legs (and more) to Battlefield 3
The dextrous legs of Mirror's Edge heroine Faith helped to shape the movement of characters in Battlefield 3, EA DICE general manager Karl Magnus Troedsson said in a speech today during GDC Europe. No, you don't spend too much time parkouring around the war torn arenas of Battlefield 3, but various animations – Faith vaulting over obstacles, for instance – directly shaped the way BF3's soldiers interacted with their environment."Not just the legs, but the actual movement," Troedsson told us in a followup. "So in BF3, when you jump over something, you can see the vaulting, etc. So the whole animation setup has actually changed quite a bit." Beyond just the animation, he said, it changed how first-person perspective was designed in Battlefield games. "Before in our games – before Mirror's Edge and before BF3 – the camera was actually just something that was floating. Now it actually sits on the animation rig that we have, which is a big difference."When we pressed for more news on Mirror's Edge within DICE and the potential for a sequel, Troedsson was predictably coy. "How many people want it? We'll see. You have to wait and see," he said. "As I mentioned, we want to do other things in Battlefield, so of course making a sequel to a game like that could be an option moving forward." And hey, it if it helps DICE's "core franchise," it could be worthwhile even without the level of financial support Battlefield sees from fans. At least that's what we're hoping.
Battlefield series celebrates 10 year anniversary: over 50 million served
DICE general manager Karl Magnus Troedsson took to GDC Europe today to celebrate his company's 20-year anniversary and the 10-year anniversary of its "core franchise," Battlefield. He revealed that the series has "served" more than 50 million players, and added that DICE is "still in love."Battlefield's latest franchise entry, Battlefield 3, shipped over 12 million copies as of last November. Battlefield 4 is up next, expected in holiday 2013.
