Battlefield: Hardline Delayed Until 2015

[Steven Bogos]

Battlefield: Hardline Delayed Until 2015

EA claims the Battlefield: Hardline delay is so they can add "more innovation" to the game.

If you, like me, booted up the Battlefield: Hardline beta and were dismayed to discover it was, at best, a mod of Battlefield 4, and, at worst, a buggy mess, you may be relieved to hear that EA games is taking it back to the shop, delaying its original October 2014 release date until "early 2015". EA says that this delay is mostly due to feedback from the beta, and gives the Hardline team more time to further "innovate" the game.

"[Battlefield: Hardline's beta] feedback also spurred us to start thinking about other possibilities and ways we could push Hardline innovation further and make the game even better. The more we thought about these ideas, the more we knew we had to get them into the game you will all be playing," said EA in an official blog post [http://blogs.battlefield.com/2014/07/bfh-will-launch-2015/?utm_campaign=bf-social-us-socom-fb-bfh-release-update-072214-fb-prev-site-ramp&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&sourceid=bf-social-us-socom-fb-bfh-release-update-072214-fb-prev-site-ramp&cid=23522&ts=1406060760984]. It outlined three major points that developer Visceral Game will be focusing on:


Multiplayer Innovation - IE: Making the game feel less like a Battlefield 4 mod and more like its own game.
Single Player Story Depth - IE: Giving people a reason to play the game's story mode.
Stability - IE: Avoiding the bug-riddled mess that was Battlefield 4's launch.


"We are doing all of this for one reason. Because we want Battlefield: Hardline to be the best game it can be, and so that we can create the best environment for a smooth launch for our players," stressed EA.

What do you think? Is a few extra months enough time for Visceral to "fix" Hardline, or is it already a lost cause?

Source: EA Games [http://blogs.battlefield.com/2014/07/bfh-will-launch-2015/?utm_campaign=bf-social-us-socom-fb-bfh-release-update-072214-fb-prev-site-ramp&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&sourceid=bf-social-us-socom-fb-bfh-release-update-072214-fb-prev-site-ramp&cid=23522&ts=1406060760984]

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[Zhukov]

Wait, does this mean we will have to go for the entirety of 2014 without a single Battlefield game being released?

My God, what is to become of us!?

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

I think we all know by now, that EA has no idea what "innovation" actually means. I expect full use of that one meme for this situation...

 

[smithy_2045]

Inexplicable and confusing use of the word innovate aside, this is great news. Maybe EA are finally coming around to the idea of actually releasing games of high quality. I eagerly await the final product of this game.

 

[Shocksplicer]

By "Innovation" they mean Microtransactions, right? Because I'm pretty sure that's what EA thinks that word means...

 

[fix-the-spade]

Wait, does this mean we will have to go for the entirety of 2014 without a single Battlefield game being released?

My God, what is to become of us!?

Everything goes back to normal, apparently a BF game every 12 months is not possible despite EA's 'best' efforts.

I'm actually delighted about this, compared to BF4 and other EA releases near suicidal commitment to the release date, this shows that someone high up in EA might be learning something.

Of course it could be the distinctly cool reaction to the BF Hardline beta that had every invited Youtube personality turning round and telling people not to pre-order the game because it wasn't good enough. It could also be the fact that BF4's player population is steadily dying off and even a new expansion couldn't nudge it above 100'000 players across all five versions combined. Or it could be in such an awful state that even EA considers it unreleasable.

Either way, moving Battlefield back away from annual release oblivion is no bad thing, even if it's first quarter 2015.

 

[gamegod25]

"...so they can add "more innovation" to the game."

Guh oh god. Pardon me I just threw up in my mouth a little reading that, but I think you can understand why.

Even if they do as implied that's still not innovation, that's just adding content and making sure it actually works...so EA still fails at the definition.

 

[youji itami]

Quality? don't be silly it's so they don't get another year of "EA crushed by Activision as Cod and Destiny dominate".

 

[Falterfire]

Whelp. There goes Battlefield. I mean, maybe Hardline was milking it but at least it's a playable game. As we all know, EA considers Dungeon Keeper Mobile to be the peak of innovation, so look forward to that.

On a slightly more serious note: Does anybody at the EA marketing job actually like EA? I sometimes get the impression they hired a PR guy who just hates them and is trying to sink the company, because there's no other explanation for how terrible they are at not making fools of themselves.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

I wish there were social services for words, then the term 'innovate' wouldn't be as dirty as it is right now.

 

[Bindal]

Single Player Story Depth - IE: Giving people a reason to play the game's story mode.

Well, one option would be to make it NOT a railroad where the player is a spectator, that every now and then has to deal with a QTE. Option 2 would be to take one of the few GOOD ideas Aliens: Colonial Marines had and either add the overall leveling also into the Singleplayer (meaning you can get to maximum level in MP without ever touching it) - or go even futher and say "you need to finish the campaign once on this setting or harder to unlock everything".
Then add a good story (and not rip off CoD again) and you're already good to go. That's not really much to innovate but the former is common sense. The latter... well, that maybe in Innovation.

 

[tdylan]

Damn! Now we have to worry that EA will ruin what would have no doubt been a stellar addition to an already magnificent Battlefield pedigree, by "innovating too much."

I now need some industrial strength detergent to wash off the stink of my sarcasm.

 

[Citizen Graves]

You know, I think it's great that they are trying to "innovate" (whatever the f**k that means coming from EA) and work on this game to make it less similar to BF4. Really, I applaud them for this decision to delay. God knows it would have helped BF4 a bunch to get more development time and not be released as the piece of sh!te that it was (and still is, to me).

But if they really wanted my respect (and even the slightest chance of me actually considering a purchase) then they would have approached this project with that same attitude from the get-go.

You know, like, decide that you want to make a cops & robbers game and develop that from the start, and NOT figure out that your little BF4 reskin-mod is too similar to BF4 6 months before release.

 

[Porkfest]

Damn EA ! Impeding healthy SGWW circulation :/

 

[ron1n]

This is just getting beyond comical. Seriously, this clip is apt for just about every single EA announcement these days.


It's just more of the same bs which Jim Sterling highlighted recently.

EA releases something, it's a disaster that reveals how out of touch they are, they try and defend it, then backtrack and make out they 'care' about the consumer and are working hard to 'make it right'.

It's actually gotten to the point where I think they believe their own bullshit.

 

[Aerosteam]

Careful, EA. Make sure not to put too much innovation in it.

 

[Micalas]

It appeats that they want to make the game about 20% cooler.

 

[tdylan]

It's actually gotten to the point where I think they believe their own bullshit.

I don't think they believe it. I think they know it's bullshit, but don't care in the least about slinging it. It's justified as a means to an end. You think Larry Hyrb lost a moment's sleep over that "you can't just flip a switch and remove the DRM" stuff, or "kinect is integral and cannot be turned off" garbage that he spat out as MS' mouthpiece? The guy probably had no idea what he was even talking about. Someone gave him his talking points, he read them, and went on with his day. It's not that they do, or do not, believe their bullshit. It's that they don't care whether or not is is bullshit to begin with

 

[Kungfu_Teddybear]

On one hand it's great that EA are delaying it to work out the problems and make it feel more like it's own game. On the other hand, the last time EA used the word "innovation" in a sentence it was to justify Dungeon Keeper.

 

[Vivi22]

Visceral is making this?

As if it being a clone of CS built on the Battlefield name and published by EA weren't enough marks against it.