Not a fun day for PC gamers. DICE's "Battlefield" series was born as a computer game. It didn't even come to consoles until late in the last console generation, with "Battlefield 2: Modern Combat," three years and five releases after the first in the series. Six and six, if you count "Codename Eagle." Yet with all of that history, DICE has nonetheless made the decision to officially cancel the coming PC releases of "Battlefield 1943" and the co-op Onslaught mode for "Battlefield: Bad Company 2."
The news comes straight from DICE general manager Karl Magnus Troedsson, posting on the developer's official "Battlefield" blog. Troedsson is very apologetic in his message, in which he says that the decision was made to refocus the efforts of those two PC teams toward finishing off "Battlefield 3."
"While we'll continue supporting 'Battlefield: Bad Company 2' and previous games, it's time to look ahead to the next giant leap for DICE – the release of 'Battlefield 3,' powered by the mighty Frostbite 2 engine," Troedsson writes. "Our goal is crystal clear: we’re going to build the best 'Battlefield' game ever, and we'll do whatever it takes to make this the biggest launch in DICE's history."
He then breaks the news about the two cancellations, and expresses his hope that the shifting of priorities will lead to a better "Battlefield 3." It's actually somewhat noteworthy, the phrasing of his last statement:
We're confident this will lead to an even better experience in 'Battlefield 3,' not only on PC, but on all platforms.
For an idea of what that means, watch this space for some exciting news I think you'll like.
The way Troedsson puts emphasis on the shift creating a better experience across all platforms, especially that final comment, suggests that there's something specific to connect them. It could just be an attempt to soothe disgruntled PC gamers. Or, possibly, it could be a hint of a planned feature for "Battlefield 3"... perhaps cross-platform play? Time will tell.