Electronic Arts president Frank Gibeau confirmed the company's intention to release a sequel to Battlefield 3 during a keynote at the University of Southern California where he said "There is going to be a Battlefield 4".[72] Afterwards, an EA spokesperson told IGN: "Frank was speaking broadly about the Battlefield brand—a brand that EA is deeply passionate about and a fan community that EA is committed to." On the eve of Battlefield 3's launch, EA Digital Illusions CE told Eurogamer it was the Swedish studio's hope that it would one day get the opportunity to make Battlefield 4. "This feels like day one now," executive producer Patrick Bach said. "It's exciting. The whole Frostbite 2 thing has opened up a big landscape ahead of us so we can do whatever we want."[73]
The official cover for the first of five downloadable content packages for Battlefield 4.
Battlefield 4 is built on the new Frostbite 3 engine. The new Frostbite engine enables more realistic environments with higher resolution textures and particle effects. A new "networked water" system is also being introduced, allowing all players in the game to see the same wave at the same time.[2] Tessellation has also been overhauled. An Alpha Trial commenced on June 17, 2013 with invitations randomly emailed to Battlefield 3 players the day prior. The trial ran for two weeks and featured the Siege of Shanghai map with all of its textures removed, essentially making it a "whitebox" test.[2]
Due to mixed reception of the two-player Co-op Mode in Battlefield 3, DICE decided to omit the mode from Battlefield 4 to focus on improving both the campaign and multiplayer components instead.[3][11][74]
AMD and DICE have partnered for AMD's Mantle API to be used on Battlefield 4. This will allow for a boost in performance on AMD graphic cards allowing a higher level of hardware-optimized performances than is possible with OpenGL or DirectX.[75]
DICE released an Open Beta for the game that was available on Windows (64 bit only), Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It featured the game-modes Domination, Conquest and Obliteration which where playable on the map Siege of Shanghai. The Open Beta started on October 4, 2013 and ended on October 15, 2013.[76]
The official cover for the first of five downloadable content packages for Battlefield 4.
Battlefield 4 is built on the new Frostbite 3 engine. The new Frostbite engine enables more realistic environments with higher resolution textures and particle effects. A new "networked water" system is also being introduced, allowing all players in the game to see the same wave at the same time.[2] Tessellation has also been overhauled. An Alpha Trial commenced on June 17, 2013 with invitations randomly emailed to Battlefield 3 players the day prior. The trial ran for two weeks and featured the Siege of Shanghai map with all of its textures removed, essentially making it a "whitebox" test.[2]
Due to mixed reception of the two-player Co-op Mode in Battlefield 3, DICE decided to omit the mode from Battlefield 4 to focus on improving both the campaign and multiplayer components instead.[3][11][74]
AMD and DICE have partnered for AMD's Mantle API to be used on Battlefield 4. This will allow for a boost in performance on AMD graphic cards allowing a higher level of hardware-optimized performances than is possible with OpenGL or DirectX.[75]
DICE released an Open Beta for the game that was available on Windows (64 bit only), Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It featured the game-modes Domination, Conquest and Obliteration which where playable on the map Siege of Shanghai. The Open Beta started on October 4, 2013 and ended on October 15, 2013.[76]