Battlefield 3 Producer Says Sequels Should Take Time

Brian Albert

New member
Aug 5, 2011
116
0
0
Battlefield 3 Producer Says Sequels Should Take Time



Battlefield 3 executive producer Patrick Bach proposes that continual updates - not annual sequels - are the proper way to support a franchise.

Speaking with Rock Paper Shotgun, Bach discussed the respectful, often forgotten practice of supporting a game post-release. He says lessons learned regarding player habits in Bad Company 2 will translate into smarter design and possibly longer legs for the upcoming Battlefield 3.

Bach added that DICE woefully underestimated how long gamers would continue to play Bad Company 2, saying just as many gamers are playing now (one-and-a-half years later) as there were only three months after shipping.

"I think the learning we've done is that if you make a good game, people spend a lot of time with it," Bach said. "If you make a great game, they will never leave."

Regarding his disapproval with modern "sequelitis," Bach had this to say:

"But maybe you don't have to build the new game, do you? If people like the old one, then keep fixing that one, update it and make it better. I think sometimes it turns too mechanical when people release new games every year, and just focus on 'how can I sell another copy, another copy, another copy?' Of course companies need to make money to survive, but you can actually provide for the title you already have out on the market. You don't have to leave it, just because you've shipped it. You can go back to it and think 'can we add something to this, can we change something, what do people want?' And then if you keep doing for a longer period of time, why start building something new? Of course you can always plan for the big next step, but if that's in two years, or three years, five years..."

Thank you, sir, for that.

Source: <a href=http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/09/01/battlefield-3-unlocks/#more-71874>Rock Paper Shotgun


Permalink
 

MDSnowman

New member
Apr 8, 2004
373
0
0
Yep, Bad Company 2 still holds up. I bought a used copy after beating my head in with Black Ops for months and I had an amazing time.
 

Mouse_Crouse

New member
Apr 28, 2010
491
0
0
A thinly veiled insult for the CoD franchise. However you have to remember it is 2 studios that work on the CoD games, so they actually do take 2 years in between games.
 

Sixties Spidey

Elite Member
Jan 24, 2008
3,299
0
41
[blockquote]2002 Battlefield 1942
2003 Battlefield 1942: The Road to Rome
2003 Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII
2004 Battlefield Vietnam
2005 Battlefield 2
2005 Battlefield 2: Special Forces
2005 Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
2006 Battlefield 2: Euro Forces
2006 Battlefield 2: Armored Fury
2006 Battlefield 2142
2007 Battlefield 2142: Northern Strike
2008 Battlefield: Bad Company
2009 Battlefield Heroes
2009 Battlefield 1943
2010 Battlefield: Bad Company 2
2010 Battlefield: Bad Company 2: Vietnam
2010 Battlefield Online
2011 Battlefield Play4Free
2011 Battlefield 3[/blockquote]

Really, DICE? Are you so sure about that?
 

Kenjitsuka

New member
Sep 10, 2009
3,051
0
0
"If you make a great game, they will never leave."

Indeed, just look at those HALO players that never left!
 

AmaterasuGrim

New member
Jul 16, 2011
89
0
0
Activision looks at stacks of cash then looks at this then back to the cash then laughing their asses off, if your making cash yearly on the same product with little change why not milk it for everything it's got right, people will either keep paying or leave then you just start something new.
 

MrJKapowey

New member
Oct 31, 2010
1,669
0
0
buy teh haloz said:
[blockquote]2002 Battlefield 1942
2003 Battlefield 1942: The Road to Rome
2003 Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII
2004 Battlefield Vietnam
2005 Battlefield 2
2005 Battlefield 2: Special Forces
2005 Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
2006 Battlefield 2: Euro Forces
2006 Battlefield 2: Armored Fury
2006 Battlefield 2142
2007 Battlefield 2142: Northern Strike
2008 Battlefield: Bad Company
2009 Battlefield Heroes
2009 Battlefield 1943
2010 Battlefield: Bad Company 2
2010 Battlefield: Bad Company 2: Vietnam
2010 Battlefield Online
2011 Battlefield Play4Free
2011 Battlefield 3[/blockquote]

Really, DICE? Are you so sure about that?
I've put in italics all those which aren't full games (IMO).

In reality your list should be:

[blockquote]2002 Battlefield 1942
2004 Battlefield Vietnam
2005 Battlefield 2
2006 Battlefield 2142
2008 Battlefield: Bad Company
2009 Battlefield Heroes
2010 Battlefield: Bad Company 2
2010 Battlefield Online
2011 Battlefield Play4Free
2011 Battlefield 3[/blockquote]

...and yes That is still basically yearly releases, but not as excessive as your first list.
 

gigastar

Insert one-liner here.
Sep 13, 2010
4,419
0
0
Despite being another hypocritcal swing at Activision and Call of Duty, its one thing i can agree to.
 

Frostbite3789

New member
Jul 12, 2010
1,778
0
0
buy teh haloz said:
[blockquote]2002 Battlefield 1942
2003 Battlefield 1942: The Road to Rome
2003 Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII
2004 Battlefield Vietnam
2005 Battlefield 2
2005 Battlefield 2: Special Forces
2005 Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
2006 Battlefield 2: Euro Forces
2006 Battlefield 2: Armored Fury
2006 Battlefield 2142
2007 Battlefield 2142: Northern Strike
2008 Battlefield: Bad Company
2009 Battlefield Heroes
2009 Battlefield 1943
2010 Battlefield: Bad Company 2
2010 Battlefield: Bad Company 2: Vietnam
2010 Battlefield Online
2011 Battlefield Play4Free
2011 Battlefield 3[/blockquote]

Really, DICE? Are you so sure about that?
I see 6 actual games on there. I'm pretty sure I've quoted you and called bullshit on this before, because you're counting xpacks as full games for...some reason? I'm not sure why or how, but I guess if that's how you roll, more power to you.

Are we really counting the play for free online ones? I guess Bioware has released 14 Dragon Age 'games' in two years. According to counting xpacks/DLC/play for free online stuff.
 

Dango

New member
Feb 11, 2010
21,066
0
0
MrJKapowey said:
In reality your list should be:

[blockquote]2002 Battlefield 1942
2004 Battlefield Vietnam
2005 Battlefield 2
2006 Battlefield 2142
2008 Battlefield: Bad Company
2009 Battlefield Heroes
2010 Battlefield: Bad Company 2
2010 Battlefield Online
2011 Battlefield Play4Free
2011 Battlefield 3[/blockquote]

...and yes That is still basically yearly releases, but not as excessive as your first list.
Three of those are also free-to-play online-only games, which I wouldn't consider full games.
 

MrJKapowey

New member
Oct 31, 2010
1,669
0
0
Dango said:
MrJKapowey said:
In reality your list should be:
[blockquote]2002 Battlefield 1942
2004 Battlefield Vietnam
2005 Battlefield 2
2006 Battlefield 2142
2008 Battlefield: Bad Company
2009 Battlefield Heroes
2010 Battlefield: Bad Company 2
2010 Battlefield Online
2011 Battlefield Play4Free
2011 Battlefield 3[/blockquote]

...and yes That is still basically yearly releases, but not as excessive as your first list.
Three of those are also free-to-play online-only games, which I wouldn't consider full games.
Goddamn, really? I knew about P4F. I'm guessing P4F, Online and Heroes are F2P? That makes it...

[blockquote]2002 Battlefield 1942
2004 Battlefield Vietnam
2005 Battlefield 2
2006 Battlefield 2142
2008 Battlefield: Bad Company
2010 Battlefield: Bad Company 2
2011 Battlefield 3[/blockquote]

So that goes from 19, to 10 to 7 games in a 9 year period. Not as crowded as was made out to be, huh?
 

CD-R

New member
Mar 1, 2009
1,355
0
0
buy teh haloz said:
[blockquote]2002 Battlefield 1942
2003 Battlefield 1942: The Road to Rome
2003 Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII
2004 Battlefield Vietnam
2005 Battlefield 2
2005 Battlefield 2: Special Forces
2005 Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
2006 Battlefield 2: Euro Forces
2006 Battlefield 2: Armored Fury
2006 Battlefield 2142
2007 Battlefield 2142: Northern Strike
2008 Battlefield: Bad Company
2009 Battlefield Heroes
2009 Battlefield 1943
2010 Battlefield: Bad Company 2
2010 Battlefield: Bad Company 2: Vietnam
2010 Battlefield Online
2011 Battlefield Play4Free
2011 Battlefield 3[/blockquote]

Really, DICE? Are you so sure about that?
Only half of those are actual full retail games. The rest are either expansion packs, downloadable arcade games, or, free to play online games. Euro Forces and Armored fury were booster packs that were released for free. So yeah I think he means what he says.
 

Waaghpowa

Needs more Dakka
Apr 13, 2010
3,073
0
0
MrJKapowey said:
[blockquote]2002 Battlefield 1942
2004 Battlefield Vietnam
2005 Battlefield 2
2006 Battlefield 2142
2008 Battlefield: Bad Company
2010 Battlefield: Bad Company 2
2011 Battlefield 3[/blockquote]
So 6 releases in 9 years? CoD has 7 releases in 7 years. (Not including the ones being released this november.)
 

Cipher1

New member
Feb 28, 2011
290
0
0
All this back and forth between COD and Battlefield is getting a little tiresome but that may just because im looking forward to neither of them and insted plan to buy ARMA 3.
 

Murderiser

New member
Jun 14, 2010
61
0
0
Plus, Bad Company 2 was released in March of 2011 and BF3 is being released at the end of October this year. That's an 18 month period in the middle. Plus, both bad companies and all previous Battlefield games have been VERY well supported with DLC and updates. Hell, BC2 has near double the amount of maps it started with (ignoring Vietnam)!
I <3 DICE.
I only love Bungie more.
 

MrJKapowey

New member
Oct 31, 2010
1,669
0
0
Waaghpowa said:
MrJKapowey said:
[blockquote]2002 Battlefield 1942
2004 Battlefield Vietnam
2005 Battlefield 2
2006 Battlefield 2142
2008 Battlefield: Bad Company
2010 Battlefield: Bad Company 2
2011 Battlefield 3[/blockquote]
So 6 releases in 9 years? CoD has 7 releases in 7 years. (Not including the ones being released this november.)
Well, TBH it's Treyarch has 3 whilst IW has 4.
 

Pingieking

New member
Sep 19, 2009
1,362
0
0
Brian Albert said:
"I think the learning we've done is that if you make a good game, people spend a lot of time with it," Bach said. "If you make a great game, they will never leave."
I'm curious as to why it took them this long to learn this particular lesson. I thought Nintendo demonstrated this quite well back in the last 80s.