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DICE General Manager Karl Magnus Troedsson thanks all Battlefield 4 players with a month of giveaways. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/BF4_player_appreciation_month-promo_640x360.png To thank you for your dedication and support, I’d like to announce the Battlefield 4 Player Appreciation Month. Starting on Saturday, February 1, DICE is saying THANK YOU to all players by hosting a month filled with fun community missions and daily giveaways that you get just for jumping into a match. We appreciate all of the great feedback you continue to provide about all aspects of Battlefield 4. We take this very seriously, and hearing directly from you has helped to make the experience better. The latest information on our game updates can always be found in the BF4 Control Room, including a few new additions that I’m pleased to say are coming soon. First, we are further improving a number of items commonly referred to as “netcodeâ€. This will tighten the overall multiplayer experience, and we will be able to share these items with you in detail soon. In February, we’re also re-introducing the fan favorite feature Platoons in its first iteration. In this added social layer, you can team up with your friends to create your own social space and accumulate stats together. We’re also working on other feature additions that you’ve been asking for – stay tuned for more. Now, let me walk you through some of the initiatives that we will be launching during Player Appreciation Month. We will have more announcements to make in the upcoming weeks, but below are some of the highlights. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/packs2.png A Battlepack a Day Every day that you log into the game in February, you’ll receive a Bronze or Silver Battlepack. For those of you who haven’t started opening your earned packs yet, these Battlepacks contain bonuses like XP Boosts and soldier camos. Normally, it would take approximately 30 hours gameplay to earn that many packs. Every day that you log a multiplayer game during the month of February, you will receive a new Battlepack. During weekdays, these will be Bronze, and during Saturdays and Sundays we will give away Silver Battlepacks. Remember to activate your earned XP boosts in the in-game menu to accelerate your progress. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/shortcuts2.jpgShortcut Bundles We are preparing two shortcut bundles for Battlefield 4 that we will make available for download at no cost during the Player Appreciation Month. These voluntary shortcut bundles will unlock all grenades and handguns for Battlefield 4 (the base game) so you can make up for lost time. Or if you’re new to the game, they will help you catch up with players who have been on the Battlefield since launch. We will get back to you with more details once we have set release dates for these items. For all of our Battlefield 4 Premium users, we’re adding two additional weapon shortcuts, unlocking DMR’s and shotguns. That way, if you like, you can quickly get your hands on a large portion of the weapons available in Battlefield 4. Double XP Weekend During the Player Appreciation Month, we’ll be running a double XP weekend for all players. If you’re one of our many Battlefield 4 Premium members, you’ll also get an additional double XP weekend during the Player Appreciation Month as an added bonus. Community Missions You will be able to participate in global DICE Community Missions where you will work together to unlock Gold Battlepacks. During the first of these Community-wide challenges, we will ask you to grab a set number of dog tags during a specified time. More details on this first Community Mission in Battlefield 4 to follow. DICE Developer Talks Increased developer interaction and transparency on how we work is frequently requested from our fans. During Player Appreciation Month, we will host a number of interviews with some of the core developers of Battlefield 4. In these interviews, you can ask them about their line of work, the effort they’ve put into Battlefield 4, or in the case of our core gameplay designer, what the balancing process of Battlefield 4 looks like. We will announce the dates and channels for these developer interviews as the Player Appreciation Month kicks off. We’re going to have more information available on each of the Battlefield 4 Player Appreciation Month activities throughout February. Check back here for those details. If you are currently playing Battlefield 4, we hope you enjoy this month-long community appreciation. If you haven’t played in a little while, it’s a great time to get back in the game. Whoever you are, we appreciate the time you spend with Battlefield 4, we thank you for your support and we hope to keep hearing from you on the Battlefield 4 forums on Battlelog. Here’s to a great 2014! Karl Magnus Troedsson, DICE VP & GM This offer is being issued to you for promotional purposes only and does not constitute a credit, charge, debit or gift card. Battlefield 4 player appreciation month is from February 1, 2014 through March 06, 2014 (“promotion periodâ€). Requires Battlefield 4 (“productâ€) on applicable platform and internet connection to access in-game content. PC version of product also requires Origin account, acceptance of the Origin end user agreement and installation of the Origin client software (www.origin.com/about). You must be 13+ to register. Bronze or silver battlepacks are offered daily during the promotion period from 12PM GMT/4AM PST to 11:59AM GMT/3:59 AM PST the next day and are automatically entitled when you log into product during the daily time period. Shortcut bundles are offered for a week-long period and require download from either www.origin.com (for PC) or http://marketplace.xbox.com/ and https://store.sonyentertainmentnetwork.com (for applicable console versions) during that weekly period. EA online Privacy Policy and Terms of Service are available at www.ea.com. See applicable end user license agreement and disclosures on www.ea.com/1/product-eulas. Valid wherever Battlefield 4 is offered. Must be 13+. Code may not be substituted, exchanged, sold or redeemed for cash or other goods or services. May not be combined with any other offer, gift card, rebate or discount coupon. Void where prohibited, taxed or restricted by law. View the full article

In our new blog series “Balancing BF4″, we’ll talk about some of the core gameplay tweaks that we are planning for Battlefield 4. As millions of players dive into the game, new gameplay styles emerge, and with them the need to keep fine-tuning the core gameplay elements. In this post, we’ll talk about the upcoming Battlefield 4 tweaks that we have planned, based on your feedback. These changes are all slotted to go live in a future game update. Stay tuned for more, and let us know what you think in the comments below. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/BF4-Second-Assault-Firestorm-Heli.pngThe Battlefield 4 helis are being carefully tweaked to further improve game balance. UPCOMING VEHICLE TWEAKS Aircraft and Anti-Aircraft 1) Reduced the total amount of missiles carried by the Mobile Anti-Aircraft vehicles from 6 to 4. The total carried missiles were making it impossible for helicopters to use counter measures to avoid the MAA’s attacks. 2) Reduced the velocity of the MAA’s default 20MM CANNON from 1200m/s to 800m/s to match the 30MM CANNON. This reduction reduces the distance projectiles will travel and should prevent situations where the MAA could engage enemy vehicles without leaving its protected home base. The damage of the cannons remains unchanged, and aircraft, especially helicopters, should remain wary of getting too close to a MAA. 3) Reduced the physical impact of all Anti-Aircraft missiles to prevent helicopters from flipping uncontrollably when hit. The damage values have not been changed. 4) Reduced the cone in which ACTIVE RADAR missiles search for targets, making them require a higher level of skill in predicting where a target will be when the missile is fired. The missiles were previously too easy to aim at long range, making them a guaranteed hit and a clear advantage over the other missile types. 5) Increased the direct damage done by the Attack Helicopter’s gunner cannon. The gunner will be better able to assist the pilot in taking down vehicle targets with this change. 6) Increased the direct hit damage of the Zuni Rockets for Attack Helicopters. The rate of fire of these rockets combined with their smaller magazine pool made them a poor choice over the other two rocket types. 7) Reduced the splash damage and maximum splash damage range of the Scout Helicopter 25MM CANNONS. These weapons were too effective against infantry with a higher splash, making them a clear choice over the 7.62 MINIGUNS in all combat situations. The 25MM CANNONS are intended to give the Scout Helicopter some measure of effectiveness against vehicles, at a clear trade off in effectiveness vs. infantry. Tanks and Anti-Tank 1) Reduced the “intelligence” of the MBT LAW missiles, requiring the player to aim the missile closer to their target before the smart projectile will activate. Additionally, the MBT LAW now reloads slightly slower. This keeps the MBT LAW in its role of an easy to use, fire and forget weapon available to all Engineers, while also balancing it with the other rocket launchers in favor of skilled AT shots. Finally, a bug where the MBT LAW would pass through an ACTIVE PROTECTION shield has been fixed. 2) Fixed an issue where ACTIVE PROTECTION and the MP-APS did not properly stop 12G FRAG rounds. 3) Reduced the range where the M2 SLAM will do maximum damage to vehicles from 6M to 3M. Players will now need to be craftier when placing the M2 SLAM in order to get the full damage potential of this ambush anti vehicle weapon. This change is to primarily counter a tactic of placing 3 mines in the same spot to guarantee a kill on any vehicle passing within 6m. The range was deemed to be too large, making the M2 SLAM far superior to the M15 AT MINE. 4) Reduced the damage the STAFF shell does to all targets by 25%. This should balance the ease of use of the STAFF shell with its damage potential. Remember to check back in the Battlefield Blog during the week for more confirmed tweaks that we have planned for Battlefield 4. Let us know what you think in the comments below. View the full article

We have a wide range of tweaks planned to further balance the core gameplay of Battlefield 4 in upcoming patches. But we need your help in identifying next steps. Let us know what we should focus on next by voting in our balancing poll. We have a lot of balancing items in the pipeline for our upcoming Battlefield 4 patches, and we will be able to share them and the rationale behind them soon. In the meantime, we would love to hear your opinions on some of the additional balancing ideas that we could add to the mix. Let us know what you think in the poll below, and on the behalf of the entire team here at DICE: Thanks for your dedication! 1. ATTACK BOATS AIR DEFENSEPlayers have suggested that the Attack Boats could have superior anti-aircraft abilities. Possible suggestions include improving the Anti-Aircraft ability of the BURST CANNON, adding a MAA style 20MM CANNON, or additional types secondary missiles with Anti-Aircraft intentions. Is the air defense ability of the ATTACK BOAT considered a problem? Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. 2. FGM-148 DAMAGE INCREASE AGAINST TANKSThe FGM-148 seems to be considered the weakest of the Anti-Tank missiles for Engineer. We have considered increasing the damage it does from 25% to 34% against tanks. Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. 3. STEALTH JET CANNON TWEAKSAfter the most recent update players are reporting the STEALTH JET 20mm cannons are now slightly over powered. Is this a universal feeling? There has also been concern about the 25mm and 30mm not receiving any changes. Are changes here desirable? Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. 4. FAST ATTACK CRAFT CANNON TWEAKSWe are considering some minor changes to Fast Attack Craft cannons: Reducing the splash damage area against infantry, requiring the player to hit closer to targets to get quick kills. And increasing the speed and the direct damage of the Burst cannon to aid hitting aircraft. No changes are being considered for the 30mm cannon. Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. 5. MBT AND IFV CANISTER SHELL BUFFCanister Shells on MBT and IFV seem less popular than BF3, and could possibly use a buff. For the MBT Canister round, an increase in accuracy and damage, while for the IFV a slight increase in damage are both being considered. Finally, an increase in the projectile speed to enable them to more easily hit moving targets. Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. That’s it for now. We have many more tweaks in store for you that we will share shortly. In the meantime, please vote to make your voice heard on which of these you would like us to focus on. Let us know in the comments below if you have further suggestions. Thanks! View the full article

Watching the snow gently fall on the Kunlun Mountains of Operation Locker, we at DICE are filled with pure holiday serenity (mixed of course with feelings of glorious all-out war chaos). And we hope you feel the same! We would like to take this opportunity to wish all Battlefield fans happy holidays. We also would love to hear about how you’re planning to celebrate the upcoming festivites, Battlefield 4 style. Will you be dashing through the snow in the aforementioned Operation Locker? Playing Commander on your tablet by the fireplace? Or maybe just creating Christmas-themed emblems? Let us know! Whatever you do, we wish you all the best and hope we will see you on the Battlefield! http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/640x360.gif View the full article

Driver version: 13.251 View the full article

Driver version: 13.251 View the full article

The battle continues on the Chinese mainland with the release of Battlefield 4 China Rising. In this new installment of “Inside Battlefield 4â€, the DICE team details the all-new maps, vehicles, gadgets, and new game mode coming in this thrilling expansion. China Rising is based on the premise that China is returning as a superpower in Battlefield 4; a concept found in all Battlefield 4 multiplayer expansions in one way or another. To give you all the details of China Rising, we hand over to Designer Gustav Halling and Lead Designer Niklas Fegraeus. Jungles, Rivers and Snowy Mountain Tops In China Rising, you’ll be fighting on the Chinese mainland with the help of both new military hardware and your team mates. Looking at the environments, we’ve created four all-new maps, each with its own unique design and gameplay possibilities. As with all Battlefield 4 maps, the level design in China Rising is based on extensive research on the regions we’re portraying. The regions are filled with unique sights, such as special kinds of rock formations inspired by natural phenomena that only exist in these particular regions. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Battlefield-4-China-Rising-Dragon-Pass_WM-640.png Dragon Pass is one of the four all-new maps in Battlefield 4 China Rising, naturally with support for all BF4 game modes. Starting with Silk Road, named of course after the ancient trade route between China and Europe, you will find yourself at a military outpost surrounded by desert. This means you’ll be fighting both among man-made structures and on the sand dunes, using mesas for cover. Guilin Peaks focuses on infantry-based combat; the heaviest vehicles here are transport helicopters. This is a lush level, where you’ll be surrounded by both jungle foliage, mountains, and cave walls. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Screenshot_logoChina_Rising_placement_640.jpg The hilly landscapes of Altai Range give you a lot of natural cover, but you still can get sniped by Recons on higher ground. Dragon Pass is a more vehicle-based map where iconically steep mountains make for a spectacular view. Fans of naval warfare will be able to dominate the shorelines thanks to the tight rivers on this one. Finally we have the sniper-friendly Altai Range with its vast, open spaces and snowy peaks of the Altai Mountains. At the center of this map you’ll find a satellite dish serving as a control point. If any team captures this point, you can access the new bombers (more on this below). Air Superiority and the New Bombers China Rising also adds a new game mode to Battlefield 4 called Air Superiority. Here, you fight for control points on the map, using air units only. This mode is ideal for players who really love and want to focus on their dog fights, without the need to worry about units on the ground. An extra twist of Air Superiority can be found on Guilin Peaks, where you can share a helicopter with a team mate, capturing one control point instead of three. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Battlefield-4-China-Rising-Air-Superiority_WM-640.png Make sure your helicopter skills are up to snuff (if not, practice at Battlefield 4′s Test Range!) when trying to capture the blimp acting as control point on Guilin Peaks. Speaking of dominating the skies, China Rising features the aforementioned bomber, capable of delivering immense damage to ground units. Capturing a specific control point makes the bomber spawn in a nearby building, ready for you to enter (you can access the Bomber even though your team isn’t holding the control point). The bomber is equipped with powerful bombs that can be dropped on a map location of your choice, and you can use four of these before having to reload. It can also be equipped with cruise missiles, that can be unlocked through a new Assignment. These missiles work like a TOW missile and can be guided by moving your pointer. Two New Toys There are two new gadgets in China Rising, the SUAV and UCAV. The SUAV (Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) is a Recon exclusive and is basically a remote-controlled plane that you can pilot around the map, in order to spot enemies and laser-designate enemy vehicles. It can also be used to kill enemies. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Battlefield-4-China-Rising-Altai-Range-UAV_WM-640.png Try deploying the Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for a better view of your surroundings, or to get an extra kill. The UCAV (Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle) is a new toy for the Support class and can be described as a pocket TOW missile. After deployment, this can be guided like a missile and is very effective against vehicles. If you complete one of the new Assignments in China Rising, there is an unlock for the UCAV that makes it explode in mid-air, making it more effective against infantry. A Fan-Favorite Returns To round off, we also need to mention the triumphant return of the dirt bike. Fans loved this speedy vehicle in Battlefield 3 End Game, so that’s why we chose to bring it back for China Rising. We’ve seen players really having fun with the dirt bikes doing crazy jumps and C4-related stunts, and with this perfected BF4 version of the vehicle we hope to see many cool YouTube videos created by the fans. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Screenshot_logoChina_Rising-640.jpg Recognise this ride? Yes, it’s the dirt bike from Battlefield 3 expansion End Game making a return. Try sharing it with a friend and make your way through the maps with speed and grace. Starting December 3, China Rising will be available for Battlefield 4 Premium members for a two-week time-exclusive period. Get Premium to get a head start for all Battlefield 4 expansions, 12 Battlepacks, exclusive new content on a weekly basis, and much more. Get Premium now to play China Rising immediately View the full article

If you can’t stop humming the Battlefield 4 theme, or maybe dropping extra beads of sweat listening to the dramatic score, composers/producers Jukka Rintamäki and Johan Skugge are the ones to thank. Here, they give you the details behind the music of Battlefield 4. From the streets of Seine Crossing to the forests of Caspian Border, veterans of Battlefield 3 have already been fighting to the music of Jukka Rintamäki and Johan Skugge. For Battlefield 4, Jukka and Johan are back, sharing the composing and producing duties. In this installment of Inside Battlefield 4, the duo talks about re-imagining the Battlefield 4 theme, musical influences and the challenges of creating a videogame score. In this post we’ll also share the music of Battlefield 4 with you, in the form of ringtones. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Pressphoto_Rintam%C3%83%C2%A4ki_Skugge-640.jpgBattlefield 4 music composers and producers Jukka Rintamäki and Johan Skugge, looking for inspiration outside their favorite kebab place. Apart from doing Battlefield music, they also compose for their band No Science. The Battlefield 4 ThemeThe Battlefield 4 theme has naturally been a great part of our work. We spent a lot of time discussing the theme with the audio department at DICE and the initial idea was to make something warmer and more organic when compared to Battlefield 3. This was our goal not only with the Battlefield 4 theme but the entire soundtrack of the game. The official theme to Battlefield 4 in ringtone form. Find more ringtones on the Battlefield Soundcloud account. The classic Battlefield theme, that’s been around since Battlefield 1942, is very dramatic with the big drum pattern as the main riff. It also suggests adventure which is a perfect fit for the game. What we’ve tried in our versions of the Battlefield 4 theme is to make it resonate with the overall feel of the game and the rest of the music. We started work on the theme by using a lot of organic instruments, guitars, cellos and even tubas. We experimented a ton, and in a couple of months we were heading back down the path of a more electronic sounding theme. It seemed to fit the game the best, though. But some of the first recordings we and fellow musician David Tallroth did, and the vibe that came from playing with guitars and cellos, remain here and there on different tracks. Though the main theme ended up being mostly electronic and quite harsh, there are fragments of a more organic approach left in its DNA. Musical Tone and InfluencesIt’s hard to place the music of Battlefield in a certain genre. It could be defined as electronic music but it’s not exactly that either, since we’ve used quite a lot of guitars and effect pedals to make it feel more organic. And it isn’t classical war music or “music for a wargame†either. Much of the inspiration has come from Blade Runner or the movies of John Carpenter. Maybe it can be defined as “retro-futuristic dark synth music†– if that category exists! The so-called “Stinger”, a beat that’s been around since Battlefield 1942. Find more ringtones on the Battlefield Soundcloud account. There was a lot of experimenting during the recording sessions to get a unique flavor of the tracks. We recorded some huge metal plates that we hung in the studio ceiling, for instance, bashing the plates with drumsticks to make gong-like sounds. Those sounded exotic to our ears. It wasn’t intended to be specifically Asian or something like that, it just sounded so great that we had to use it. The sound of the metal plates can be heard in the “Oppression†track in the Battlefield 4 soundtrack. Another exotic sound that is present on the soundtrack is an ebow (electrical bow), being used on a steel guitar. That combination produced an unfamiliar, exciting sound that fit in great in all sorts of environments in the game. On some tracks you can hear the ebow and steel guitar sounding like strings, and sometimes like sirens. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/BF4_musicblog_pic1-640.jpgThe Battlefield 4 theme locked and loaded on the music team’s DSI Mopho Keyboard. Other synthesizers used during production were Korg MS-20, ARP Avatar, Roland Juno-6 and DSI Evolver. Challenges Along the WayOne of the most challenging parts with creating the music for a game like Battlefield 4 takes place before the composing and recording even begins. Everyone needs to agree on what type of music is needed, how it should feel, what kind of instruments and sounds we want to work with, and other kind of things. We also need to understand the game before we can compose suitable music to it. The more you familiarize yourself with the game, the better. Usually the stages in-game are not finished when we produce the music, so it’s important to have a clear vision of how the game should sound. It is also critcial for us to understand what the sound designer is trying to do, and what we as composers can do to make the overall music and sound experience as rich, deep, and emotional as possible. Battlefield 4 tune named “Escalation” in ringtone form. Find more ringtones on the Battlefield Soundcloud account. It’s also quite a challenge composing for a video game compared to composing for other media. One of the reasons for this, at least when it comes to Battlefield 4, is that the game and the music is dynamic. Your musical experience varies depending on what happens in the game, how fast you move forward, and so on. The intro part on a certain track can be 20 seconds or 5 minutes – depending on who’s playing. The tracks on the official soundtrack can be very different to the versions that the players themselves are “composing†while playing the game. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/BF4_musicblog_pic2-640.jpgAn ebow was used on a vintage Guyatone Lapsteel guitar to produce various exotic sounds for the soundtrack. With so many vast areas in Battlefield 4, like the far-reaching sea, we worked on several tracks expressing a feeling of open spaces. One keyword in this process was “Journeyâ€, and we spent a lot of time trying to find the right tone. We struggled a bit with this but in the end, the piece “Majestic Valkyrie†was a great fit with a lot of the naval scenes. Rewarding WorkI love when music inspires players; that is the greatest reward. It’s of course great when players get totally immersed in the game and the story with the help of the enhancement of the music, but the nicest thing is when the music means a lot to people outside the game. Someone did a 10 hour version of the song Solomon’s Theme from Battlefield 3 and posted it on and we’re seeing similar kinds of things happening with the Battlefield 4 music. I think that is fantastic, we’re very happy with our work and to see that it moves people feels great. We hope you have enjoyed this post! The Battlefield 4 Official Soundtrack is available on Spotify and iTunes now. Make sure to get Battlefield 4 to enjoy the music of all-out war. For more behind-the-scenes pieces like these, check out all our The Road to Battlefield 4 articles. Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. View the full article

Today we launched Battlefield 4 on Xbox One. With that console, we will have brought Battlefield 4 to no less than five platforms. It is amazing to see such a complex universe come to life across so many advanced hardware systems. Millions of people around the world are playing the game and seeing the tip of the iceberg of what the next generation has to offer. At DICE, we are committed to you, the fans, and view the game as a live service. I am extremely proud of the people at DICE and everyone across EA that contributed to the development of Battlefield 4. However, I am less proud to see that the game has experienced some turbulence during the launch period. While some platforms have had only minor problems, others have had more than their fair share of issues. Resolving the launch issues is our #1 priority. In fact, we are so serious that we have the entire team working to stabilize the game and we will not move on to other projects until we are sure that Battlefield 4 meets – and exceeds – your expectations. It is the right thing to do. To show our appreciation for your patience as we work through these issues, we are announcing that from November 28 through December 5, we will reward all players with Double XP for every multiplayer match they complete. We understand that the launch issues may have impacted your progression, and we want to do everything we can to help you get back the XP that you may have lost. Also, to cap off the week, on December 5 we will give all players that log in to Battlefield 4 multiplayer a M1911 pistol scope. This special sidearm scope, previously reserved for our DICE developers, has a 3X zoom and is available for all classes in Battlefield 4. You are the heart and soul of Battlefield. We thank you for your support in these early days of the launch, and will continue to show our appreciation as time goes on. To stay informed about the latest game updates, please visit us at Battlefield 4 Control Room or follow us on Twitter and Facebook. Thank you, Karl Magnus Troedsson View the full article

A second helping of Battlefield 4 is upon us! Battlefield 4 Second Assault contains four classic Battlefield 3 maps, redesigned and Levolutionized, available first for Xbox One Premium users. Read on for full intel on the expansion, and enjoy the release trailer. Second Assault contains four immortal, fan-favorite maps from Battlefield 3; Operation Firestorm, Caspian Border, Gulf of Oman and of course Operation Metro. Each map has been redesigned thanks to the power of Frostbite 3 and is now more stunning than ever. Battlefield 4 veterans will recognize the surroundings, but also notice various changes – big and small – in map layout. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/BF4-Second-Assault-Flooded-Metro_WM-640.png Remember to bring your best fighting galosches to the redesigned Operation Metro – after a few years of neglect, the underground has been flooded. For instance, in Operation Metro the ceilings now can be destroyed by the players. It’s also possible to bring down the communications tower of the new Caspian Border and create flammable hazards on Operation Firestorm. And Gulf of Oman’s sand storm will make your battles even more challenging. With new weapsons and all-new game mode Capture the Flag, Second Assault pushes the fan-favorites to their limits. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/BF4-Second-Assault-Screen-640x360.png The speedy DPV (Desert Patrol Vehicle) is making a return in Battlefield 4 Second Assault. Last time we saw it was in the Battlefield 3 expansion Back to Karkand. In a Nutshell: - 4 fan-favorite BF3 maps reimagined through Frostbite 3 - Redesigned levels with player-triggered Levolution moments - 5 weapons re-mastered for Battlefield 4 - Dune Buggy (DPV) vehicle makes its return to the Battlefield - Capture the Flag game mode - 10 new assignments with their own unlocks - Available to Battlefield 4 Premium members 2 weeks earlyhttp://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/BF4-Second-Assault-Caspian-Border_WM-640.png Autumn leaves and fortified walls await you in the vast fan-favorite Caspian Border. Second Assault will be released as a timed exclusive for Xbox One at the console’s release on November 22. Watch the newly aired Second Assault live stream Get a Battlefield 4 Premium membership to play Second Assault 2 weeks early View the full article

http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/ultratrailer2.jpg Sometimes, normal streaming doesn’t do Battlefield 4 justice. Battlefield 4 features 64 players waging all-out war in 60 frames per second. We wanted to give you the possibility to watch our official Multiplayer Launch Trailer in its full glory. Below, you can download the Battlefield 4 Official Multiplayer Trailer in unmatched fidelity and witness every explosive detail in the highest rated next generation shooter — delivered in 60 fps. Battlefield 4 Multiplayer Launch Trailer in Full HD View the full article

We’re excited to announce the Battlefield 4 Second Assault Live Stream, presented by AMD. Get a first look at the Battlefield 4 Second Assault expansion, featuring four fan-favorite maps from Battlefield 3, pushed to their limits with the power of Frostbite 3 and redesigned to enhance gameplay. Join us on Wednesday, November 20th at 12PM PST as we live stream three matches on Battlefield 4 Second Assault maps, available first on Xbox One starting November 22nd. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Second-Assault-Key-Art-640x435.png DICE LA, the creators of Battlefield 4 Second Assault, will show off a new game mode, Capture the Flag, and three of the four new maps. Throughout the stream we’ll answer your questions about the expansion pack and Battlefield 4 Premium. At the end you’ll catch the worldwide premiere of the Battlefield 4 Second Assault launch trailer. Stay tuned for more information – the live stream is next week! Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.Second Assault is one of five expansion packs coming to Battlefield 4 Premium members. Learn more about Battlefield 4 Premium. View the full article

This weekend Battlefield 4 multiplayer is open to everyone (Xbox Live Gold & Silver members) on Xbox 360. Test your skills on November 16th beginning at 3PM PST by playing against DICE LA, creators of Battlefield 4 Second Assault, available first on Xbox One. Ready to get started? Here’s how to play: 1. Send a friend request or invite to the listed gamertags. - DiceDev1 - DiceDev2 - DiceDev03 - DiceDev04 - DiceDev05 - DiceDev06 - DiceDev07 - DiceDev08 - DiceDev09 - DiceDev10 2. Be ready to play at least 30 minutes before the event starts. Don’t forget your headset, so you can ask those burning questions about the game. 3. If you receive a game invite, get ready to Game with Developers. View the full article

We here at DICE cannot wait until the launch of the next-generation of console gaming. The power of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 allows us to deliver the best Battlefield experience on a console ever. As we prepare for battle on next-gen, over the coming week we will be sharing with you 64 reasons why Battlefield 4 will be the premiere shooter on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 this holiday and beyond. Let’s kick off with the first 10 reasons. We look forward to seeing you on the next-gen Battlefield! Part 1 64-Player Action For the first time on consoles, Battlefield 4 lets you jump into 64-player multiplayer mayhem on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Prepare for non-stop action as you’ll have to watch your six at all times. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/scores_bf4-640x370.jpg The Best Next-Gen Shooter Out There The critics and fans have spoken: there’s a new king of shooters for the next generation of gaming. Battlefield 4 is the highest-rated first-person shooter available now. Read the reviews of Battlefield 4. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Journey_Robert640.jpg Golmud Railway Big, bombastic, and beautiful: Golmud Railway is an ideal map for fans of vehicle warfare. This vast area features a mobile control point atop a train, that moves towards the controlling team’s base. You will also find many improvised explosive devices on the map that create huge craters when detonated. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/battlefield_4_china_rising-wide.jpg China Rising This December, the all-out war continues in Battlefield 4 China Rising, where you fight for dominance across the vast and majestic Chinese mainland. Four massive new maps, all-new vehicles, and high-tech military equipment await you. You Can Point at Many Things There is a lot to point at in Battlefield 4. Actually, this is called spotting and is a vital teamplay tactic, but JackFrags, one of many Battlefield YouTubers, got inspired to write a song about all the things he’s pointed at in-game. . Test Range Practice makes perfect. Newcomers to Battlefield, or pros who want to perfect their skills, can visit the non-hostile Test Range. Here, you can to test your wings in an attack helicopter or snipe wooden targets or barrels thrown in the air. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Obliteration_640.jpg Obliteration I’ve got the bomb! Quick, get to da choppa! DO IT, DO IT NOW! In the frantic Obliteration, you are likely to both shout and hear things like these often. This explosive game mode sees two teams fighting for control over a bomb that must be detonated in the opposing team’s targets. Social Sharing You’ve just had an amazing match of Battlefield 4, saving the day and taking your team to victory. Time to let people know! Through Social Sharing, your Battlefield 4 experiences can be shared on Facebook, letting your friends see what you’re up to – and to join you in-game. Frostbite 3 The advanced technology of DICE’s Frostbite 3 engine offer you a glimpse into the future of interactive entertainment. Delivering visual and audio fidelity that is unmatched, superior character animations and dynamic destruction. A Ton of Vehicles Whether you’re roaring through the skies in a jet, or stampeding into battle with a tank, the thrill of piloting the Battlefield 4 vehicles is unmatched, and with the new naval units you will dominate the sea aswell. Remember to pimp your ride through Battlefield 4’s vast customization possibilities. View the full article

With returning veterans as well as newcomers flooding in to the series, we wanted to do a detailed run-down on the console controller options in Battlefield 4. Here are all your available settings — and how you can tweak the controls to fit your play style. Want your Battlefield 3 Controls Back?http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/BF3_tank_05.jpgWant to play like it’s 2011? Just change your control settings to LEGACY and VETERAN to get a close resemblance to the Battlefield 3 controls. We’ve heard the feedback from returning Battlefield fans that you miss the control scheme from Battlefield 3. Fear not! If you’re just looking for the quickest way to set the controls to closely resemble those in Battlefield 3, here’s all you need to do (we’re assuming a right-handed player in this example): Hit OPTIONS from the main menu and set all fields (where applicable) to either VETERAN (for buttons) or LEGACY (for sticks). That’s it! With theses settings made, there will still be a few changes compared to the Battlefield 3 controls. The design thoughts behind these are all explained in greater detail below. For reference, here are the settings you want for Battlefield 3-like controls: SOLDIER BUTTONS: VETERAN SOLDIER STICKS: LEGACY VEHICLE BUTTONS: VETERAN VEHICLE STICKS: VETERAN VEHICLE AIM RELATIVE CONTROL: OFF HELI BUTTONS: VETERAN HELI STICKS: LEGACY JET BUTTONS: VETERAN JET STICKS: LEGACY VERTICAL FLIGHT: INVERTED Tweaked BF4 Controls for Maximum Team Playhttp://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/360v2-640x360.jpgThe new default control scheme on console adheres to common shooter standards while at the same time maximizing the potential for efficient team play unique to Battlefield 4. Image taken from the BF4 PDF manual. The default Battlefield 4 controls on console are designed from the ground up to facilitate team play. In concrete terms, this means we wanted to make sure that both Spotting and the Commorose are used heavily in multiplayer, while the Engage order and Tactical Visor should be equally easy to reach and use in Single Player. All the while, the core gameplay mechanics of shooting, aiming, moving, and executing melee attacks need to be as strong and reliable as ever. We also had to take into consideration that a lot of Battlefield fans eventually will want to move from their current console to the next generation. This means we needed to stay consistent across PS3 to PS4, and X360 to Xbox One. When we designed the default controls for Battlefield 4, we took the next generation of controllers into the equation as well. To achieve the above design goals, we moved team play functions like Spot and Commorose to Right Bumper/R1. This in turn meant we needed to redesign other parts of the controls as well. We believe the result is a control layout that allows players to utilize the unique team play mechanics of Battleifeld 4 — while still staying true to tried and tested shooter controls and making the transition to next-gen controllers as seamless as possible. In Battlefield 3, Spotting and Commorose was mapped to SELECT/BACK. However, we wanted to make these functions more easily reachable and more widely used. The equivalent buttons on next-gen controllers are also functioning in a different manner and can’t be used to map game functions like in Battlefield 3. Other changes in our default control scheme are: -Knife attack was on RB/R1, has now moved to R3 (click right stick) -Crouch/prone was on R3, has now moved to B/Circle -B/Circle was ENTER/EXIT VEHICLE, has moved to HOLD X/Square (as opposed to TAP, which is still RELOAD) -HOLD X/Square was PICKUP KIT, so that was moved to HOLD Y/Triangle -On PS3, we use that console’s standard for shooter layouts, where the shoulder buttons are used instead of the pull-triggers. So on PS3, all the trigger functionality is flipped, and Spot/Commorose is R2 (pull trigger) instead of R1 New Intuitive Vehicle Controlshttp://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/heli2.jpgThe default vehicle stick controls in Battlefield 4 are tweaked for maximum intuitiveness Image grabbed from the Official BF4 Multiplayer Launch Trailer. We wanted a more intuitive vehicle control scheme as the default for Battlefield 4. Since you are moving your character with the analog stick it made sense to have similar controls for vehicles. This means that the current default for vehicle controls is that the left stick now controls both throttle and steering. This allowed us to have movement controls on the stick, and FIRE, ZOOM, Countermeasures and Spot/Commorose up on the shoulder buttons, making all vehicle layouts closely match the soldier layout. This should make it easier for players to pick up and play in vehicles compared to the unconventional placement of these buttons in previous Battlefield games. Also, we noticed that in Battlefield 3 players sometimes mistakenly entered a vehicle when they actually just wanted to reload their gun, and vice versa. We solved this issue by changing the ENTER VEHICLE command to require you to press and hold, rather than just quickly press. We also moved the button for picking up weapons and kits to ease the overload on the Interact button in Battlefield 4. VETERAN TIP! If you want to drive vehicles like in Battlefield 3, with the left stick controlling the throttle and the right stick controlling steering, just set your VEHICLE STICKS option to LEGACY. VETERAN TIP! If you prefer to use the analogue triggers for acceleration and braking you can change to that layout in the options menu by setting the VEHICLE BUTTONS option to VETERAN. New Aim-relative Control for Turreted Vehicleshttp://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/turrets.jpgIt’s never been easier to drive turreted vehicles like tanks and air-to-air vehicles. Image grabbed from the Official Battlefield 4 Multiplayer Launch Trailer. There’s a new control system for driving vehicles with turrets meant to reduce complexity for players, as aiming in one direction and moving in another can be tricky. The new default control setup in Battlefield 4 helps move the vehicle in the direction you push the control stick, regardless of in what direction you are aiming the turret. This control method is only active in tanks (MBTs, IFVs, and Mobile AA vehicles) and Attack Boats, as they are the only vehicles where you operate a turret while driving. VETERAN TIP! Players who prefer a more traditional Battlefield control method for tanks can head to the CONTROLS option menu and change the VEHICLE AIM RELATIVE CONTROL setting to OFF. Configure the Sticks to Do What You WantFor the thumbstick layout options for both soldiers and vehicles, we offer the same options as we have in Battlefield 3. SOUTHPAW completely swaps the functions of the left stick and right sticks (for example, if a player is left-handed and prefers that) and LEGACY swaps only the X-axes on the thumbsticks, resulting in a soldier control scheme similar to N64-era shooters where moving forward and turning were on the same thumbstick. LEGACY SOUTHPAW swaps the functions of the LEGACY layout between the two thumbsticks. Between the default layout and these three alternatives, any possible combination of thumbstick controls is available for soldiers, land vehicles, helicopters, and jets, separately. Miscellaneous Control TipsInverting the Y axis Some players prefer to invert the Y axis on the sticks on foot or when in vehicles. You can select this in the controls options as well. For some players, inverting the Y axis in vehicles specifically makes sense, since that means flight controls will more closely resemble real life (where pulling the stick towards you will make the nose of the plane to go up.) Visit Battlelog on the Fly One change in Battlefield 4 is how seamlessly we have integrated the core social fetaures of Battlelog into the game, not only on PC, but on consoles as well. Hitting BACK/SELECT will let you quickly open up the Battlelog dashboard to see which friends are online, what they are playing, and also the status of any ongoing MISSIONS that you have accepted or created for your friends. So if Battlelog is on BACK/SELECT, where has the scoreboard gone that was previously mapped there? The score board is still available quickly, this time by holding the START button. Set the Sensitivity Just Right Don’t forget to set the aim sensitivity on your controls. Try it out and see what you prefer – higher means more sensitive for quicker turning speeds, but usually at the sacrifice of finer control when you just want minor course corrections or aim adjustments (usually at longer ranges.) Why No Full Customization?We have heard your feedback on the controls for Battlefield 4 and your questions on why they are not fully customizable. While the matter of configurable button mappings on consoles is quite complex, we are investigating whether this is something we could support in the future. Take the Vehicles For a Spin on the Test Rangehttp://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/testrange.jpgTake the vehicles for a spin and evaluate all of the available controller settings in peace and quiet on the non-hostile Test Range. We know getting to grips with all of the available vehicles in Battlefield 4 can take some practice. That’s why we’ve included a Test Range in the game where you can practice weapons and vehicles in a non-hostile environment. If you want to brush up on your flying skills or try out all of the available controller options to see which ones fit your play style, the Test Range is the place to go. We hope this blog post answers your questions on the Battlefield 4 controls. Let us know in the comments below if you have any more questions you would like us to answer. Stay tuned for more in-depth blog posts on all aspects of the game. Thanks for reading! View the full article

http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/BF_minibanner_blogg.png Share your passion for Battlefield 4 for a chance to receive one of fifty Battlefield 4 hoodies! With the new Social Sharing feature, your Facebook friends will be able to see your progression in Battlefield 4 multiplayer. Ranking up, earning new medals, or winning a game of explosive Obliteration, are some examples of occurrences that can be made visible in these Facebook posts. Your Facebook friends can also see when you join a server, so they in turn can join you on the Battlefield. Not only does Social Sharing let your friends find you in the game, it also enables Facebook friends who doesn’t own Battlefield 4 to discover what the game is all about. These people can navigate to Battlefield 4 Boot Camp through your Facebook post, to learn the ropes of Battlefield 4. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/get_prize_story2.pngBrag about your wins, make people find you in the game, or just let your Facebook friends learn the basics of Battlefield 4 – all thanks to the Social Sharing feature. If you activate Social Sharing before December 1, 2013 you may be selected to receive 1 of 50 available Battlefield 4 hoodies over at the new DICE Store, courtesy of Jinx. All you need to do for a chance to own a Battlefield 4 hoodie is to activate Social Sharing on Battlelog and have it active on December 1, 2013. Head to Battlelog for full instructions on how to activate Social Sharing in Battlefield 4. View the full article

We would like to remind eligible players that they can look forward to a weekend of double XP in Battlefield 4. Players who participated in the Double XP Pre-Order Campaign will get double XP playing Battlefield 4 on PC, PS3, or Xbox 360, during the time periods listed below. Double XP Weekend Times: Starts at: 2AM GMT on November 2 / 7PM PDT on November 1 Ends at: 8AM GMT / 1AM PDT on November 4 Those who used the campaign to pre-order next-gen versions of Battlefield 4 will be able to participate in a Double XP Weekend on December 25-26  - stay tuned for the exact times for that. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Battlefield-4-Operation-Locker-TDM_WM-640x360.jpg View the full article

With the release of Battlefield 4, millions of players are throwing themselves into the all-out war of multiplayer, exploring the variety of environments on offer. As you may know, Battlefield 4 features 10 distinct maps with support for all 7 game modes, with every map custom-tailored for the gameplay characteristics of each game mode. Below, you can find descriptions of all multiplayer maps and some of their distinguishing features. Enjoy the tour! http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/ZAVOD-640x360.png Zavod 311 Zavod 311 is the home of an abandoned Russian tank factory, where players are met with a mix of vehicular and infantry combat. With an autumn shroud backdrop, you will be fighting next to rusty train tracks, abandoned buildings, and the aforementioned factory at the center of the map. Zavod 311 features a tall chimney that can be brought down by detonating a warhead, blocking the central path for vehicles and challenging you to re-think your strategy. There is also Levolution of lesser scale; some of the factory’s hazardous machinery can for instance be activated to function as deadly traps for careless infantry soldiers. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/flood-zone-640x360.png Flood Zone Set in a Chinese town in the direct vicinity of a large levee, Flood Zone is a versatile Battlefield 4 map with suppport for many different multiplayer tactics. If the levee is destroyed, the map will get flooded and the circumstances will change drastically. Suddenly, light naval units have a great advantage, and infantry can swim to reach the rooftops thanks to the raised water level. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/GOLMUD-640x360.png Golmud Railway Those looking for vast fighting grounds and vehicular warfare will probably spend a lot of time by the fields and mountains of Golmud Railway. This is the biggest multiplayer map in Battlefield 4, and players will have access to a huge variety of vehicles (excluding boats). One of the control points is located at a train rolling around the level, and the team holding this point will see the train moving closer to the deployment zone at home base. There is also the possibility to detonate a number of IED’s (improvised explosive devices) on the map, creating huge craters in the ground. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/LANCANG-DAM-640x360.png Lancang Dam Both land, air, and sea vehicles will battle it out on the mighty Lancang Dam, based on the real-life Xiaowan Dam in the Lancang area, China. There are five control points on main land and one located on a small island. Overlooking the riverside, with a research building and power station as some of the key areas, lies the huge dam – destroyable by planting explosive charges. The result is a devastating avalanche of concrete blocks. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/PARACEL-640x360.png Paracel Storm With its many islands and dynamic waves, Paracel Storm is a perfect choice for fans of naval warfare. Water-based vehicles dominate the scene, but there’s also plenty of room for dog fights and infantry action, as evidenced in the . When the dynamic weather changes stirs up a storm, players are given the possibility to untether a destroyer at sea, which then comes crashing into shore. This in turn gives access to the ship’s AA guns and alters the conditions of the island the ship crashes into. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/OPERATION-LOCKER-640x360.png Operation Locker Tight level design makes Operation Locker ideal for intense, close-quarter infantry combat. In this mountain prison environment, the cell area located in the middle of the map becomes a war-ridden hot spot. Prison doors can be opened and closed, granting a possibility of trapping soldiers inside – an extra devious action if you also blow up the nearby tower. Operation Locker features both in- and outdoor enviroments and the snowstorm outside will dynamically intensify during matches. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/HAINAN-RESORT-640x360.png Hainan Resort A luxiorous hotel facility at the centre of the map is the focus of the seemingly idyllic Hainan Resort. Here, the focus is primarily on infantry combat, but there will also be lighter vehicles and air units fighting among the palm trees and bungalows. As for massive Levolution moments, the hotel can catch fire and collapse with the help of oil spills set ablaze by the players. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/SHANGHAI-640x360.png Siege of Shanghai The intense urban warfare of downtown Shanghai was the first Battlefield 4 map ever shown. Making its debut at , Siege of Shanghai features all-out war at sea, air, and land, with a great focus on vertical combat. The player-triggered Levolution moment of a falling skyscraper will change the face of the battle, making you continue the fight on the rubble at street level. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/TheDish_Slindy800-640x360.png Rogue Transmission Aptly nicknamed “Silver Sun” during development, Rogue Transmission provides a memorable battleground thanks to the huge satellite dish dominating the vista. Players can battle both on top of the dish and under it, but if someone sends the huge radio telescope receiver crashing down, it is fatal to stay around for too long. Taking all game modes into account, all kinds of vehicles except naval units are available on Rogue Transmission. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/DAWNBREAKER-640x360.png Dawnbreaker The Dawnbreaker map, featured in the BF4 , throws you into battle in a metropolitan environment, set at dawn. While Dawnbreaker takes place in an urban setting, vehicles such as jets are still available. In this darker setting, three gas line stations can be overheated by players, causing a chain of explosions along a gas line. This will leave a huge scar in one of the roads and also make it possible to destroy one of Dawnbreaker’s bridges. Thank you for reading! It’s our hope that you will enjoy the variety and quality of the Battlefield 4 multiplayer maps, and that you find your own particular favorites. Make your voice heard in the poll below, and make sure to buy Battlefield 4 if you haven’t already done so. New to the world of Battlefield 4? Go to Boot Camp and learn the ropes of single and multiplayer. Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. View the full article

The massive launch of Battlefield 4 has begun. DICE GM Karl Magnus Troedsson reflects upon the past two years of development and what this launch means for him personally, and for DICE as a studio. A Message from DICE VP & GM Karl Magnus Troedsson“As we reach the end of a two-year long journey the entire team at DICE is filled with emotions. All the hard work by the team, the shared creative tension by everyone in the studio being hell-bent on building something majestic with Battlefield 4… It feels a bit empty now that all those ideas, thoughts, designs, and discussions from the development of the base game suddenly are about to end. I almost wish we never had to ship — but ultimately, we are of course very excited to get the game into your hands. Suddenly someone walks past my office, proudly showing off what could possibly be the first retail copy of Battlefield 4 in the world. We laugh, take pictures with it and share them on social networks. Internet high-fives all around, and then it’s back to work! We know that we’re never really ‘done’, and that Battlefield is more than just a game; it’s a service and a promise to every fan that we’ll take care of their experience long after the game has launched. Almost immediately we change strides, onwards toward more great content and updates. I’m immensely proud of what the team has created, and as we end one journey another begins. We have prepared for the millions of gamers who are going to to play Battlefield 4. Now, we put our creation out there and wait with bated breath for fans around the world to tell us what they think. It’s time to lock and load once more. See you on the Battlefield, my friends.” Karl Magnus Troedsson DICE VP and GM Battlefield 4 is available now. View the full article

Responsible for the all-out war soundscape of Battlefield, the award-winning audio team at DICE has had its hands full for the past two years making Battlefield 4 sound just right. In this installment of “The Road to Battlefield 4â€, our audio experts discuss everything from field recordings of naval units to metaphorical Spaghetti Bolognese. Try imagining Battlefield without its collective soundscape. You quickly realise how crucial the shouts of squad members, the bullet cracks, jets roaring, or just the sound of your soldier vaulting over a concrete slab, are for the overall Battlefield experience. With several BAFTA, GANG and AIAS awards under their belt, the DICE audio team was confident in taking on Battlefield 4 – but there were many new challenges along the way. The Battlefield audio team consists of many different divisions. Voice-overs, the sounds of your soldier, Levolution moments, and map ambience all play a part in the soundscape. To shed light on the many elements of Battlefield 4’s sound design, we hand over to Ben Minto (Audio Director), Mari Saastamoinen Minto (Lead Sound Designer), Andreas Almström (Lead Sound Designer), Viktor Israelsson (VO Designer) and Ludvig Kullberg (VO Producer). Approaching the Sounds of Battlefield 4As an audio team, we have accumulated great experience in sound design by working on DICE’s previous titles. When a new project comes along, we know we have to evolve but we are confident we are up to the task thanks to our experience. Approaching Battlefield 4 however, many new challenges have presented themselves with features like Levolution, Commander Mode, and Naval Warfare. Take the falling skyscraper in Siege of Shanghai for example: to achieve something like that, we can’t just get a sound of a collapsing building and add that to the level. We have to find out what it sounds like from different distances. What does it sound like if you’re hundreds of metres away, or actually on top of it? We also need to figure out how the entire map sounds before the building goes down, and what the aftermath sounds like. You can actually tell whether the skyscraper is still there or not, just by listening to the overall character of the soundscape. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/audioteam2013_800-640x422.jpgThe team responsible for the sounds of Battlefield 4, just days away from the launch of the game. Another vital part of the new audio is the recording of water-based sounds, these have to be up to the same level of quality as those we already have for air and land combat. We needed to gather new sounds for swimming, diving, drowning, water-based combat and much more connected to water. The drowning sounds took a bit of experimenting. Many audio designers make the mistake of using too much to simulate drowning, which produces a cartoonish sound that just makes you laugh. Our audio director, Ben Minto, was convinced that in order to accurately capture the sound of drowning he needed to fill his mouth, nose and throat with water and then cover the mouth and nose to stop the breathing. It was quite painful to force water around in your system like that, as though you are gasping for non-existent air. It took some time but it was worth it. Those sounds really felt right in the end. Playing Better Thanks to SoundOne of the most important parts of sound in Battlefield 4 is the information it gives you as a player. Your line of sight in the game can only gives you 60-70 degrees of the panorama, but sound is all around you. So it’s our job to fill in the gaps of information. If you can hear a tank behind you, you can decide to run into a building to hide or run to find more ammo for your RPG. It’s about giving players information so they can make decisions. We don’t want to make it like a pinball game with effects like “DING! You got 10 000 points!â€, though. You should have to work a little bit for the information. By making people listen for sounds like enemies running up stairs or deploying a tripod, they engage more, they take part, they listen and filter for information. The Battlefield should be readable through the sound that is happening. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Battlefield-4-Paracel-Storm_6_Gamestop-640x360.jpgWaves crashing, engines roaring, and guns blazing. All these sound sources are mixed in real-time to give the player an immersive and informative soundscape. Bullet sounds also give you information of the Battlefield, and we can honestly say that those impress us almost daily, even though we’ve worked with them for several years. The impact of the bullets, the sound of the ricochets… being in a gunfight still seems fresh when we play the game thanks to the quality of the recordings, and all the variations. Personal, Varied and CloseIf there’s one major difference in the audio for Battlefield 4, it’s the fact that it’s more personal and close to the soldier than ever before. We’ve worked a lot with sounds related to the soldier’s clothes, helmet and other gear. The sound of rain, for example, has been expanded this time around. Now you will hear rain, or water from indoor sprinklers, actually dripping on your helmet. To achieve these sounds, we’ve done everything from standing with a helmet in the shower to walking around in real rain with microphones tucked in our hoods. Recording the “soldier†in Battlefield 4 – basically the sounds of us wearing a military vest – was done from scratch by running around with the vest in different environments. A lot of time was spent just on choosing the right kind of fabric for the vest, to get that modern, rustling sound. There are also a ton of variations of sounds like these. Take the sound of the solider vaulting, for example. There is around ten variations of vault, and these in turn have their own pitch variations. And variety is one of the mantras for Battlefield 4. Every time something happens in-game, it should sound as unique as possible. The maps themselves also have sounds of their own and we try to give all the Battlefield 4 maps their own unique and realistic tone, based on their environments. Right now we’re working together with the audio team at DICE LA on the new Caspian Border in Second Assault, the upcoming Battlefield 4 expansion, and we need some fitting bird sounds. For Caspian Border in Battlefield 3, we used sounds from swallows that exist in the real Caspian area. But in Second Assault it’s autumn, so we want birds with a more autumn-like sound. We’ve found a bird called Caspian Snowcook, but we’ve already used that in the Alborz Mountain map, so the bird hunt goes on… You can really immerse yourself in things like these as a sound designer. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/BF4_Screen_01-640x360.pngThe sound of a rocket launcher being fired differs a lot in characteristic depending on where you are on the map, and what other sounds exist in your vicinity. There are also a lot of personal sounds in Battlefield. If there’s an elevator or an alarm in the game, we use the sounds of the elevators and alarms here at DICE for the recordings. When we go on holiday, like when DICE went to Dubai, we record sounds to get exotic birds or the sounds of the desert. That makes it more unique for the player, and more personal for the sound designers who work here. All these kinds of details may feel like small steps forward, and there’s often a lot of work behind a small step. But they all take you closer to sound that’s really believable. Real-Time Mixing and Spaghetti BologneseIt’s hard do give an exact number of how many sounds we have in total, but there are easily over a million files in the DICE sound library: anything from a piece of metal hitting the floor to hour-long recordings of tanks. But the number of audio files isn’t really that relevant. Since we’re using real-time mixing with the help of the Frostbite Engine, the variations of each sound become even greater. The sound of a pistol being fired varies depending on where you are on the map, and the game engine helps us calculate this. An analogy would be that we don’t serve spaghetti bolognese, we create the basic ingredients – pasta, tomatoes, minced meat etc. – and then inside Frostbite we create the recipe, but with an built-in chance for there to be lots of variations in how they are combined. Different sound variations of one weapon being fired on the Battlefield. This requires a lot of play testing since there are many combinations of sounds appearing in multiplayer that we can’t predict. As we said, we give players all the basic ingredients, we give them a map and release 64 players into it – and they create mayhem. We can’t test every possible sound permutation beforehand, so we are sometimes surprised how some sounds in multiplayer turn out. In these playtests we need to ask ourselves a lot of questions. What does it sound like when I’m indoors and a tank drives across and smashes a building across the street? Was there too much glass? Was the bass level too high? Did it feel scary? Is my pistol louder than the tank driving through that building – and should it be? Can I still hear the person that’s sneaking up behind to stab me? Checking things like this takes time, and that’s why many of the sound designers here have over 200 hours of Battlefield 4 playtime. Recording on the FieldWe’ve recorded a lot of the Battlefield 4 sounds in the studio, but of course there’s always the need for field recordings. In the most recent one, we recorded weapons here in Sweden, which became the base of the Battlefield 4 weapon sounds. It’s a huge plus to do your own recordings, since it gives us the control of all the microphones and such. There are recordings that you can buy, but they are recorded with a different mindset, and are mainly designed for movies. We know what versions of sounds will work in the game, that’s why we need the control that own recordings bring. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/MG_2466-800-640x284.jpgVoice actors on our “Field of Screams”, working hard to perfect the tone of the Battlefield 4 battle cries. All different kinds of people here in Sweden have been very helpful by letting us do our field recordings. We’ve been helped by both people with access to military hardware, but also by swimming pools that lend us their facilites and go “sure, we’ll close the pool down for the afternoon so you can practise drowning each otherâ€. That’s been a pleasure. The Voices Behind the SoldiersThe voice-over work is another huge part of the sound design in Battlefield 4 and the need for world-class, believable VO – both in single player and multiplayer – can’t be underestimated. We’ve been working with a great cast for Battlefield 4, and the actors have done loads of research on their characters. It’s impressive to see how the actors really become their characters; Michael K Williams is Irish, Andrew Lawrence is Pac, and so on. In multiplayer, it’s a different kind of drama. Even though we use voice-over actors here too, the drama is created by the players, since they often have the power of when the characters speak thanks to the Commo Rose. It’s easy to think that all the voice-over lines consist of screams and hectic dialouge. Sure, since the lines are spoken on a battlefield, a lot of the voices are of course urgent and noisy. If someone’s throwing a grenade, when it’s a matter of life and death, the tone is going to be hectic. But if someone throws you a medkit or revives you, the tone is calmer. So there’s more variety than you might think. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/IMG_0056-800-640x478.jpgThe cast of the Battlefield 4 single player campaign, doing voice-over and motion capture work. To get that exact temperature and intensity of the actor’s lines is probably the most important part of voice-over work. For example, doing VO for Commander Mode was a real challenge. We wanted to find a tone of voice that wasn’t as intense as the tone of the soldiers fighting on the Battlefield. The sound of a Commander should of course be urgent, but at the same time controlled. The actors nailed it in the end, and by giving the Commander another type of radio sound characteristic, that audio really became distinctive. The Birth Cry of the BattlefieldThe absolute best thing of being part of the Battlefield 4 audio team is something that’s yet to come – and that’s the release of Battlefield 4. Just for the audio department, 12 to 15 people have been working their butts off and doing levels and levels of intricate work during the last couple of years. Even though we work close to each other, we haven’t heard everything that’s been done. To experience all the love, effort and little details that are in the final game – that will be a fantastic part of the process. Experiencing Battlefield 4 going live with real players, and hearing all their combined actions, is also going to be very exciting. We’ve simulated that in playtests, and we’ve experienced a lot in the Beta. But to be there when the final version come alive with real people, that’s where the joy comes out. It will be like watching a child unwrap christmas presents – and hearing what that sounds like. View the full article

With just one week to go before Battlefield 4 starts to hit the shelves and hard drives around the world, things are heating up at the DICE office. While we’ve discussed multiplayer at length already, it’s time to give you another look at what the single player campaign in Battlefield 4 has to offer. Take a look at the Official Battlefield 4 Single Player Story Trailer, then let us know what you think in the comments section below. To learn more about Battlefield 4 and Prepare 4 Battle, visit our new Boot Camp section at battlefield.com. View the full article

If you're a PC gamer who loves historical combat simulators or simply tanks blowing up other tanks, you’ve probably heard of Wargaming. They got their start in Belarus making games about space and real-world conflicts before trying their hands at a free-to-play tank combat game called—appropriately enough—World of Tanks. Moving into F2P catapulted the company into global success, and their ascent doesn’t show any immediate signs of slowing. Wargaming flew me out to meet the team for their fifteenth anniversary, and now I'm back with some interesting insight into where Wargaming—and likely the games industry at large—is going in the next year and a half. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here View the full article

http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/persistenceheader2.png In this episode of â€The Road to Battlefield 4â€, learn how we are guiding players to great team play, rewarding skill and dedication with ribbons, medals, Assignments, and more. Prepare 4 the biggest collection of rewards in a Battlefield game yet. With Battlefield 4, we are introducing our deepest online career ever. We are also tweaking it to make it rewarding for newcomers and challenging for returning veterans. While sharing similar basics with Battlefield 3, we are now offering a cleaner upgrade path, clearer Ribbon and Medal progression, and an increased focus on richly rewarding great team play. Read on for the full info on how you can earn 900 unique rewards in Battlefield 4, as detailed below by DICE Persistence Designer Valerian Noghin assisted by William Cooper. The quick fix and the long journey aheadWe know our fans can spend literally hundreds of hours on the Battlefield. With Battlefield 4, we want to make sure players have goals to aspire to at the end game, while at the same time rewarding players at earlier ranks as well. Ribbons are the quick fixes, whether you’re a veteran or a newcomer to the series. You typically can get one or more of these in a single round if you perform well. They can be awarded for anything from repairing vehicles, capturing flags, or reviving team mates. There are 45 unique Ribbons in the game, and you can earn each of them an infinite number of times. Perhaps the biggest bragging right in Battlefield 4 is the Rank you achieve, from 0 (Recruit) to 100 (Colonel). Rank is strictly a number that shows your dedication to the game, and each Rank has five sub-ranks denoted by Roman numerals – similar to the system used by the U.S. Marines. So at Rank 16 you’ll hit “Sergeantâ€, with Rank 20 being “Sergeant V†and Rank 21 bringing a new title (“Staff Sergeantâ€).http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/RankS0100.png RANKS Earned at set scores total in multiplayer, goes from Rank 1 to 100. Ultimate goal: Reach Colonel 100. Your Rank is directly tied to your accumulated score throughout your multiplayer career, and is a way to represent the sum total you’ve accomplished so far. A very skilled player will rank up faster than an average player, but it also comes down to sheer time that you have dedicated to the Battlefield. Even if you hit the Colonel 100 Rank milestone, there are still new items to collect – we’re adding high-end Assignments that are only attemptable by high-rank characters, with unique rewards that let your friends know they’re dealing with one of the few elite veterans in the community. To make the progression path clearer, we’ve cleaned up a few quirks from Battlefield 3 while adding to the overall scope of the entire system. There’s never been more to do and more to discover, and it’s never been easier to understand how to earn everything there is to collect in the game. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/AvengerDuo3.png For Every Ribbon a MedalRIBBONS & MEDALS 45 Ribbons, tied to one Medal each. 45 Medals, tied to one Ribbon each Example: Attack Helicopter Medal – Receive 50 Attack Helicopter Ribbons. Every Ribbon in the game has a clearly corresponding Medal, usually awarded when you’ve earned 50 ribbons of one kind. And now more than ever, these Ribbons and Medals are more tailored to the unique characteristics of the four playable classes. Some of the Ribbons are only earnable by Recon, Support, Assault, and some by Engineer. Players who gravitate heavily towards one of these classes will automatically have a trophy cabinet that differs wildly from that of a player that hones in on one of the other kits. The concept of grabbing dog tags from other players in the game has been an exciting cat and mouse chase between players since Battlefield 3 and earlier in the series’ history. We’re now more clearly defining how the hundreds of dog tags obtainable are displayed in the game, and what they are used for. The left part of your dog tag is now more focused on who you are – this is where you’d display your country’s flag, your clan tag, or Rank. The right hand side dog tag is where you can display what you’ve achieved on the Battlefield. If you’ve got a knack for flying jets, your right dog tag could for example display your number of jet kills, which is dynamically updated to show your latest tally for everyone to admire. Service Stars are also returning in Battlefield 4. These are additional distinguishing marks that you get awarded for heavily investing in distinct areas of the game. Think of it as a sub-rank of sorts that takes much more dedication than Ribbons. If you’ve amassed a great accumulated score playing as an Engineer, you might be awarded an Engineer-specific Service Star. In a similar manner, getting great results with a specific weapon will earn you Service Stars for that weapon. This time around we’ve even included Service Stars for winning the available game modes. Note that only objective scoring and actually winning rounds will earn you Service Stars for game modes. So if you run into a player with one or more Obliteration Service Stars, you know you’re up against someone who knows what to do with the bomb that just spawned on the map. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/ServiceStar2.png Scoring will show the waySERVICE STARS Shows dedication in specific areas. 130 unique Service Stars earnable. Each can be obtained 100 times, for a total of 13,000 attainable Service Stars. Example: Stealth Jet Service Star – Reach the end of the Stealth Jet unlock tree. There’s a role for everyone, and you can always play to your strengths in Battlefield 4. That said, one of the major design goals going into Battlefield 4 was to use the underlying scoring system itself both as a friendly guiding tool and as a strong incentive to great gameplay. Since your score is directly related to ranking up and gaining new weapons, gadgets, and accessories, this is where the foundation for the online career is set in place. The scoring system effectively allows us to influence all aspects of Battlefield 4 – from teamwork to playing the objective and the more strategic aspects of the game (such as the Commanders receiving points when their teams use the Supply Drop provided.) One new way that we are using scoring to incentivize playing the objective relates to flag capturing and arming objectives. Now, as soon as you attempt to capture a flag or arm an objective, the points will start ticking into your account, even if the overall attempt might fail. So if you are trying to reclaim a base but get killed just one second away from completing the capture, you’ll still be handsomely rewarded for the great attempt, for the risk you put yourself in, and for playing the objective. By contrast, doing the same in Battlefield 3 would have netted you 0 points if the flag was not at least neutralized. Similarly in Rush or the all-new Obliteration mode, simply starting to arm or disarm an objective will make the points roll in. While succeeding in the arm or disarm will naturally yield even greater sums, doing the right thing that actually drives the game mode forward will always be advantageous to your career progression. We’re also more greatly rewarding playing the objective this time around. So in Obliteration, you’ll be granted quite a large sum of points for doing pivotal actions like running with the bomb, arming it at an objective, or killing the enemy bomb carrier. It’s all part of an increased effort to drive each game mode to a distinctly different experience than the next one. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/game-modes-slider-image.jpg ASSIGNMENTS Multi-layered tasks to perform. 45 multiplayer Assignments available, divided into Bronze, Silver, Gold. Rewards include dog tags, vehicle paints, and weapons. Example: Assault Combat Basic – Reach Rank 10, get 7 kills with Assault Rifles, get 11 Heals with Medkit. Another aspect of using scoring to promote great gameplay is tied to the new vehicle hit mechanics. In Battlefield 4, the way vehicles take damage from the Engineer’s RPG attacks is directly dependent on the angle of attack and the hit zone. The new â€top zone†on tanks, for example, is especially vulnerable to RPG attacks. By greatly rewarding attacks that deal heavy damage and letting players know how much damage they’ve dealt via the VEHICLE HIT message, the game will drive more and more players to try to achieve certain kinds of attacks. Over time, the full potential of anti-tank weapons will be discovered in a joint effort by the Battlefield community. You can learn more about anti-vehicle warfare and damage models in this earlier in-depth blog post. The concept of handsomely rewarding great gameplay is also highly relevant for Commanders. Scoring in itself is one of the major ways for Commanders to verify that they are making a critical impact in their team’s struggle on the Battlefield. The Commanders are naturally distanced from the ground fight (this is especially true for Mobile Commanders). The scoring system is a great means for letting them know they are performing well and helping their team out. A new concept in Battlefield 4 is that of KILL ASSIST COUNTS AS KILL. If you get a few shots in on an enemy but can’t manage the kill, you’ll still get awarded the kill if that enemy is later eliminated. The thought here is that if you’re contributing to your team you should be rewarded accordingly, since team play is at the core of Battlefield. In Battlefield 3, you could take down an enemy from 100 to 1 in health, then a friendly player would sometimes “rob†you of the kill by dealing the decisive shot. In Battlefield 4, we are instead rewarding both players with a kill and with a healthy dose of points. This means that players who put themselves in harm’s way at the frontlines are more likely to rack up decent scores even if they don’t manage to get a lot of regular kills. Overall, the scoring design in Battlefield 4 is meant to make everyone willing and able to contribute to the greater cause. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/BroBar-640x222.jpg Team play is one of the defining aspects of Battlefield 4, and with the new Field Upgrades system, we are making sure to reward team play specifically within your squad. A squad is a team of two to five players and you are free to join or leave a squad at any time on the fly like in Battlefield 3. Performing team actions within a squad will net you score towards your own progression, but will also benefit the entire squad. As your total score for squad actions in a round rises, you will move along an accumulative upgrade path that gives all squad members benefits like faster sprint, more grenades, or better cover from enemy spotting. But beware – if your entire squad is wiped, you’ll all lose the progress you’ve made. If you get the message “LAST MAN IN SQUAD†in-game, make sure to stay alive until your friends can respawn and rejoin the fight. You can learn more about Field Upgrades in this earlier blog post, where we asked our fans to vote for their favorite upgrade path. The winner, â€Shadowâ€, will be in the final game. Thanks to everyone who voted! A Knife for a Knife: Changing how Unlocks WorkWe have more weapons and accessories in Battlefield 4 than ever before. With that, we thought it was time to change how you actually get new hardware to play with. Now, weapons, gadgets, and accessories are awarded to you for using items from the same family in multiplayer. So if you’re all about shotgun action, using shotguns (and scoring with them) will unlock more shotguns and shotgun accessories for you to play with. Similarly, if you use a lot of sniper rifles and amass respectable scores with them, you will unlock more varieties of sniper rifles, scopes, and barrels for them. While there is an implied connection between LMGs and Support class or sniper rifles and Recon class, playing a class itself will not bring you new weapons. Killing, assisting and suppressing with a weapon will give you more unlocks from the same weapon class. One tweak to the progression system in Battlefield 4 based on fan feedback is that each class comes to battle better equipped from match one. The default weapons and vehicles will be starting with a few essential unlocks already from scratch to make sure the fight is balanced no matter when you join the game – right at launch or later. For example, what this means is that jets start with available flares, whereas in Battlefield 3 you had to struggle to unlock them, often in a hostile air space where other players had already unlocked flares and heat seekers. For your weapons in Battlefield 4, this means that starting assault rifles will have applicable grips available while LMGs have bipods from the get go, creating a game where the default class loadouts are both more unique and versatile from the get-go. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/battlepacks.png Bronze, Silver, & Gold: Introducing BattlepacksAnother exciting element to Battlefield 4 progression is the concept of Battlepacks. Battlepacks are randomized bundles of content that are awarded at certain Ranks. Think of them as a collection of items that are not hard-coded and will be granted at specific moments in your career. At certain ranks, you’ll get a handful of items, but you’ll never know exactly what you’ll get or in what order. If you played the Beta, you might have seen these in action already, since the first Battlepack is awarded to players at Rank 3 (and later at set intervals tied to your Rank.) Depending on your actual Rank, you’ll be awarded a Battlepack of either Bronze, Silver or Gold Rank. The value of the Battlepack decides the number of items you receive in the pack, as well as the chance to get something really rare. Items in Battlepacks include things like weapon accessories, weapon paints, vehicle paints, soldier camos, dog tags, XP boosts, and unique knife designs. The weapon accessories earnable in Battlepacks are not game-changing in any way, as they are simply cosmetic variants of accessories you can already unlock via the normal weapon progression. For example, if you use a specific rifle, you’ll eventually unlock the U.S. red dot sight for it. At the same time, you might earn a Battlepack with the Russian red dot sight for the same weapon. The special Weapon Battlepacks are awarded for each weapon after completing all its regular unlocks. Thus, a player faithful to a specific carbine will eventually obtain all its accessories by simply using it. You can learn more about Battlepacks at the official Battlefield 4 Battlepacks page. Battlefield Most Wanted: Tracking Your Next RewardBattlefield 4 is our biggest game yet and that includes the behemoth that is our awards and unlocks system. Let’s put some numbers to that: there are 45 Ribbons in Battlefield 4 multiplayer, each tied to a corresponding Medal. You’ve got 45 Assignments in multiplayer and 5 multiplayer-specific Achievements/Trophies. There are over 600 dog tags to attempt to steal, 130 Service Stars that can be obtained 100 times over for a total of 13,000 earnable Service Stars. We also have 80+ weapons to unlock and a massive amount of weapon accessories. With this amount of content, we wanted to help our players visualize what to go for next. Whether you’re longing for that new 40x sniper scope, the new Assault rifle ergo grip, or the Obliteration Mode Medal, we’ve added the option to track up to three unlocks and rewards to see how far you’ve come to earning them. Settable from Battlelog (including inside the iOS/Android app), tracking an item lets you see what you have to perform to receive it, as well as how far along that road you’ve already travelled. On PC and next-gen consoles, you can also follow the progression of your tracked unlocks and awards in-game by bringing up Battlelog. In multiplayer, you can even see in real-time how you’re progression towards these. You can also check your progression for every single unlock via the detailed stats and unlocks pages on Battlelog. The items you are officially tracking will simply be displayed more prominently for you. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/tracking2.png Our goal for Battlefield 4 was always to create the deepest and most rewarding progression system in the history of Battlefield. We hope you like the way we’ve set you up for years to come on the hunt for Colonel 100 and beyond. Let us know what you think in the comments section and the poll below – what is your ultimate goal in Battlefield 4 multiplayer? As always, we value your feedback. Thanks for reading. Stay tuned to “The Road to Battlefield 4â€, where we’ll continue the journey towards launch by diving deeper and deeper into every nuance of the biggest Battlefield game ever developed at DICE. Pre-order Battlefield 4 to get the China Rising expansion pack at no additional cost. Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. View the full article

Once again, DICE and EA are proud to present a list of new and prestigious awards that the game industry has honored Battlefield 4 with. Having won over 30 industry awards so far, we are very honored and thankful to receive these new recognitions. As we march towards our biggest release ever, we are confident and hopeful that you will enjoy the all-out war of Battlefield 4, starting October 29. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/industry_awards-640x472.gif Battlefield 4 Accolades • “The Next-Generation has arrived†– Games Radar • “Looks absolutely nuts†– MTV • “So far Battlefield 4 looks absolutely breathtaking†– Consol.at • “DICE turns the destructibility back up to 11†– Game Informer http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/alla-awards-3.jpg Other Awards Most Valuable Game Award (@Gamer, E3 2013) Best PC Game (Atomix Mexico, E3 2013) Best of E3 (CVGames, E3 2013) Best Multiplayer (Digital Trends, E3 2013) VS Award (Examiner, E3 2013) Best FPS Game (Game Chronicles, E3 2013) Best Multiplayer Game (Chronicles, E3 2013) Best Game of Show (Game Chronicles, E3 2013) Best FPS (Game One France, E3 2013) Public Award (Game One France, E3 2013) Best of E3 (GameSpot, E3 2013) Most Valuable Game Award (GamesRadar, E3 2013) Best Graphics (GamesRadar, E3 2013) Game of Show (GamesRadar, E3 2013) Best FPS (Habitor Russia, E3 2013) Best Online Multiplayer (Machinima, E3 2013) Most Valuable Game Award (PC Gamer, E3 2013) Best of E3 (PlayStation LifeStyle, E3 2013) Best FPS (Pop.com.br Brazil, E3 2013) Best Shooter of the Show (PS3 Trophies, E3 2013) Game of Show (Vandal.net Spain, E3 2013) Best PC Game Gamescom (Official Awards, Gamescom) Most Wanted PC (Computec, Gamescom) Editor’s Choice PS3/PS4 Award (Play3, Gamescom) Editor’s Choice X360/Xbox One award (XBG 360 Games, Gamescom) Editor’s Choice PC award (PC Games, Gamescom) Best Graphics Gamescom 2013 (World Game Navigator, Gamescom) Best FPS Gamescom 2013 (World Game Navigator, Gamescom) Future Game of Show Award (TGS Official Awards, TGS) Best Xbox 360 Title (GameStop Managers Show – Italy, GSMS) Best Game (GameStop Managers Show – Northern Europe, GSMS) View the full article

Like a good episode of The Wonder Years, growing up gracefully was an overarching theme of the first annual Gaming Insiders Summit in San Francisco. While the Gaming Insiders organization has been hosting private dinners and other events for four years, this is the first time they’ve invited members (as well as media riffraff) to a day-long conference to discuss the future of the games industry.. The day was devoted to presentations from noteworthy members of the industry, including Ken Levine, John Riccietello and Jenova Chen. The lion’s share of the discussion was about metrics and marketing, but beneath the biz-speak there was a common theme running through the talks: games have to grow up if they hope to thrive. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here View the full article