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EA @ Gamescom: Crysis 3, SimCity, Army of Two and more
If you're lucky enough to find yourself at Gamescom next week in Germany, playable demos of Crysis 3 and SimCity will be headlining EA's lineup. Aside from those two, there will also be demo stations at EA's booth for Need for Speed: Most Wanted, FIFA 13, FIFA Manager 13, Medal of Honor: Warfighter and Star Wars: The Old Republic.EA will also be conducting behind-closed-doors presentations. Notable titles for private showcase include the newly-announced Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel from Visceral Games, the Armored Kill expansion for Battlefield 3, Crysis 3, Dead Space 3, NHL 2013, Sims 3, SimCity and a bunch of mobile games from EA and Chillingo. We'll have previews of those games next week.
PSA: Battlefield 3's Battlelog offline tomorrow for server update
Battlefield 3's Battlelog system will be offline tomorrow, August 9, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. CET for server maintenance. That's 4 a.m. to 5 a.m. EST, for those wondering what "CET" stands for. You can find your relevant time zone here.The downtime will be spent enacting the following updates to the Battlefield 3 server and Battlelog, as provided by EA:
Battlefield 3's End Game to include deadly motorcycles, vs. Armored Kill's tanks
Battlefield 3's End Game DLC, due out March 2013, will have players take out enemies while looking studly on motorcycles, as demonstrated by the above image taken from EA's Summer Showcase. End Game is slated to contain new maps, vehicles and more, and is the final of three announced DLC packs for BF3, following Armored Kill in September and Aftermath in December. First up, fans will get their hands on Armored Kill, which features manic vehicular manslaughter in the form of ATVs, mobile artillery and most lethally of all tanks, as shown in the following gallery.%Gallery-161679%
Battlefield 3 Premium has over 1.3 million subscribers
The Battlefield 3 Premium service shows continued growth, with EA reporting "over 1.3 million subscriptions to date," a significant increase over the 800,000 reported in late June. During an investor conference call, EA revealed that it made $37 million in revenue from the service in June.The $50 service provides early access to expansions and other DLC, along with other in-game items and the option to reset stats.
Battlefield 3 'Aftermath' DLC in December, 'End Game' in March
Battlefield 3's "Aftermath" DLC pack, leaked way back when and then finally confirmed but a day ago, will find itself in the hands of capable soldiers the world over come December, according to this Battlefield Premium hype page.The site's calendar also officially acknowledges and dates BF3's "End Game" DLC pack for March of 2013. Both packs are said to contain four new maps, new unspecified weapons, equally new and equally unspecified vehicles, and "more." While Battlefield Premium subscribers gain access to DLC content two weeks earlier than regular folk, we expect the December and March launch windows to apply to both categories of people, provided the Premium launches aren't near the tail end of either month.
EA's Battlefield 3 ad campaign on Facebook shows 440 percent return on investment
A major part of Facebook's business, in addition to keeping an accurate and exceedingly detailed log of the horrible web of lies you spin during your daily social activities, is as an advertising platform. As it turns out, advertising on Facebook can be pretty helpful, at least if the product you're shilling is something globally recognized like Battlefield 3."Electronic Arts recently spent $2.75 million promoting Battlefield 3 on Facebook," said Facebook COO Sheryl K. Sandberg during the company's first investor call since going public. "They attributed $12.1 million of their sales to these ads, translating to a 4.4x return on their Facebook marketing spend." Sandberg didn't elaborate on how EA extrapolated that figure.An independent study performed on 60 different Facebook advertising campaigns showed that 70 percent of campaigns analyzed saw a 300 percent return on investment at minimum, according to Sandberg, while 49 percent of campaigns enjoyed 500 percent returns. It's difficult to determine how well that figure scales up, considering its small sample size, but we're sure that the simple act of typing "500 percent returns" has caused several dozen advertising executives to salivate uncontrollably.
DICE 'committed' to Battlefield 3 even after Battlefield 4's launch
Battlefield 4 is coming, with a beta scheduled to begin next fall, but DICE assures fans that doesn't mean a premature end to support for Battlefield 3.Following up on earlier pledges to the same effect, the developer said on the official Battlefield blog that it intends to continue with BF3 support past the beta, continuing even after BF4 is released. "We are committed to providing an excellent Battlefield 3 experience well into the future , past the releases of Aftermath, End Game, and Battlefield 4," a representative said on the blog. "DICE is continuing its work on Battlefield 3 alongside Battlefield 4."Of course, there's no way of telling what that "work" will entail following the release of Battlefield 4. It's certainly an impressive claim nonetheless, one that we hope isn't equivalent to pre-selling us some exclusive bridge DLC.
Battlefield 3: Aftermath DLC adds four maps in post-earthquake Tehran
The Battlefield 3 "Aftermath" DLC is finally official. After getting leaked a few months ago, and being mentioned again last month, the add-on has now been described in more detail by EA. There will be four new maps that take place in "a post-earthquake Tehran," along with new vehicles, a new game mode, and new assignments, achievements and dog tags to earn.This promo page also hints at new weapons for Battlefield 3: Aftermath. There's no indication of what the new game mode is just yet, or when the content will drop. Currently, the release date is listed as "TBA" for both premium and standard BF3 players, but given that EA's shared this information with us, the DLC probably isn't too far off.
Battlefield 3's 'Armored Kill' is all about shooting dudes from vehicles
Battlefield 3's "Armored Kill" expansion, coming this September, finally gives fans of the franchise the expansion they've been waiting for, featuring vehicular mayhem like that shown in today's trailer.Armored Kill has five new vehicles, "including mobile artillery, tanks, ATVs," along with 20 vehicle-specific unlocks and the ability to spawn in the all-new gunship. The premiere trailer above features the "Alborz Mountain" map and "Bandar Desert, the largest map in Battlefield history."The 800,000+ BF3:Premium members will have two weeks early access to Armored Kill before the rest of the grunts come in. The next two Battlefield 3 expansions "Aftermath" and "End Game" are expected in December and March 2013, respectively.%Gallery-157682%
DICE vows continued support for Battlefield 3 in light of Battlefield 4 announcement
EA officially revealed Battlefield 4 today as a project being developed at the company's Sweden-based DICE studio. Beyond that, however, no one's saying a peep about the game. Lest you forget, three more DLC packs are planned for DICE's last game, Battlefield 3, and that apparently means DICE isn't ready to talk Battlefield 4 just yet."There is no further Battlefield 4 news at this point," reads a post from DICE on the Battlefield 4 subpage. "With the Back to Karkand and Close Quarters expansion packs already out, Armored Kill around the corner, and End Game and Aftermath still on the horizon, we're looking forward to many more hours of gameplay with you, and can't wait to see the stories you will tell through Battlelog and player created videos."With Medal of Honor's 2010 reboot, EA set out to match its competition's annual shooter, Call of Duty. EA's Los Angeles-based Danger Close studio is in charge of EA's Medal of Honor franchise, apparently trading off years with DICE and the Battlefield franchise. The two franchises currently share DICE's Frostbite 2.0 game engine, and Danger Close's next MoH employs DICE's Battlelog system as well. Thus far, EA has yet to best Activision's Call of Duty powerhouse (in terms of sales and critical reception) with its two shooter franchises.
Battlefield 3 and Bad Company 2 lead designer David Goldfarb exits DICE
Having worked on mostly Battlefield games for the past five years, the man who lead design on both Battlefield 3 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2, David Goldfarb, has left EA's DICE studio. "5 years, 4 games. Grateful to have worked with such awesome people on awesome games. Farewell + Onward," he tweeted yesterday afternoon.Goldfarb told Joystiq of his exit, "I was ready to move onto new things and do something different." He wouldn't tell us where he's headed next.Goldfarb's not the first high profile DICE dev to leave the company in the past few years. Gordon Van Dyke left back in 2010; he's now with Paradox Interactive working on a Battlefield-flavored third-person action game from developer FatShark, War of the Roses. The other third of Battlefield's recent dev leadership, Patrick Bach, is currently serving as company CEO while Karl Magnus Troedsson takes paternity leave.Beyond various DLC plans for Battlefield 3, it's unknown what DICE is currently working on. The studio's Frostbite 2.0 game engine is used in several EA properties (including the other first-person shooter from EA, Medal of Honor: Warfighter), and the only other game it has made outside of Battlefield in recent years is Mirror's Edge. Troedsson told us during GDC that DICE has "ongoing plans" to differentiate its game portfolio, but we've yet to see that promise play out. EA Studios president Frank Gibeau has repeatedly noted his interest in a sequel to ME, but we've yet to hear anything more official than that.EA reps didn't respond to request for comment regarding Goldfarb's exit as of publishing.[Image credit: 'jontintinjordan']
PSA: Battlefield 3 'Matches' mode now available
Battlefield 3's new multiplayer customization feature, Matches, is live today. Matches mode allows players on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC to create custom matches with specific friends and squad members, allocating team sizes, game settings, maps and unlocks for competitive multiplayer rounds.To establish a custom match, players must be actively renting a dedicated server. Too bad it's illegal to host massive firefights in other things you rent, like cars, apartments, houses and U-Hauls. Then again, renter's insurance on Battlefield 3 Matches would be pretty insane, so it's probably a good thing "renting" rules aren't all-encompassing after all.
Battlefield 3 introduces 'Matches,' customized competitive multiplayer
Battlefield 3 will implement a feature called Matches, allowing players to coordinate competitive multiplayer games with a specific set of friends and squad members for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3. To set up a match, players must first be actively renting a dedicated server. They can then set up a custom match, choosing name, time, game mode, team size and maps through Battlelog.Matches are completely customizable but will start players in a warm-up phase, a no-count playthrough that lasts until everyone signals they are ready to start the real game. Matches mode doesn't have a release date yet, but we can hope it's not anywhere near dry brush or tinder. The Battlefield Blog says to stay tuned for more information.
Battlefield 3 players get double XP this week
While many Americans plan to celebrate their country's independence on July 4 with some cold brews and succulent BBQ, EA is making a case for staying indoors and playing Battlefield 3. The XP faucet is being turned on for Premium subscribers all week, and non-paying members get a bonus too.Premium folks get the best part of the deal, naturally – all points earned will be doubled until July 8 at 11:59pm PT. Standard Battlefield 3 players may only enjoy the doubled end-match points until July 4 at 1pm PT, which actually turns out to be pretty decent timing. That's usually when Uncle Hank comes over with the real fireworks.
Over 800,000 enlisted in Battlefield 3 Premium so far
In its first two weeks of availability, over 800,000 individuals have signed up for Battlefield 3 Premium. "We are very pleased with the performance so far," EA Games' Patrick Soderlund told USA Today. Still, Soderlund exercised caution on the outlook for Premium. "We're actually only two weeks into it, so it's a little early to tell how this is going to pay off. It certainly it looks very promising right now." Since launching in October, Battlefield 3 has shipped 15 million copies, Soderlund says.Battlefield 3 Premium, announced a few weeks back at E3, gives those who plunk down a one-time fee of $50 early access to all DLC content, which non-Premium members must pay for piecemeal. The PS3 also has a weeklong exclusivity window for Battlefield 3 DLC – after that week, the DLC is then available to PC and Xbox 360. The first expansion pack, Close Quarters, is currently available on all platforms.
PSA: Battlefield 3's Close Quarters DLC now on PS3; PC and Xbox get it next week
Those rocking the vanilla Battlefield 3 experience – as opposed to EA's new Premium subscription service – get their first crack at Battlefield 3's first big expansion today. The Close Quarters expansion pack, which aims to offer more personal conflicts in the FPS, is available exclusively to PS3 players today.Premium members have had access to Close Quarters since earlier this month. And while the PS3 has an exclusivity deal in place for Battlefield 3 DLC, Xbox 360 and PC players won't have to wait too long: Close Quarters drops on those platforms next week.%Gallery-157675%
Battlefield 3 dishing out double XP this weekend
Dedicated Battlefield 3 players might have planned on playing this weekend, and following through with that intention will net you sweet bonus points. For this weekend only – starting at 12:01am PT on Saturday and lasting until 11:59pm PT on Sunday – all Battlefield 3 players will earn double their end-round score.This promotion applies to both Premium and non-Premium members – if you plunked down the cash for Premium, you'll also find double the points awaiting you in Close Quarters. You'll find double points spread across every map and every game mode, so long as you're playing on a ranked server.
Ghost Recon: Future Solider bides time at No. 1 UK sales spot
The UK's All Formats chart has seen very little change over the past three weeks, with Ubisoft's Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier and Rockstar's Max Payne 3 holding tight at first and second, respectively. FIFA 12 also maintained its position in third for a second week, as the stalwart game hasn't left the top ten since its debut last year. Game of Thrones was the only new title to break the top 40 last week, certainly a blessing of the franchise's name more than the quality of the game. The UK top ten vying for the iron throne.%Gallery-149219%
Check out Razer's Mechwarrior Online 'Artemis' prototype and other peripherals
Razer's E3 booth was fully stocked with both retail and prototype peripherals this year, the most interesting of which was the Artemis, an experimental controller array designed specifically for MechWarrior Online. The prototype, designed and built in a month, features a flight stick on the right, an array of buttons on the left and a 10 inch screen in the middle. Razer hopes to have a retail version of the peripheral ready sometime this year.The rest of the booth was populated by the company's ambidextrous, 8200 dpi Taipan mouse ($79.99, July), a Battlefield 3-branded, helicopter-style Blackshark headset ($129.99, July) and the Blade laptop, all of which can be seen in the gallery below.%Gallery-157589%
Battlefield 3 Premium's trailer returns, won't be pulled this time
The Battlefield 3 Premium trailer is back, but unlike yesterday's early switch flipping, this time we doubt the clip will oscar mike off the internet again.
