EA Halts Work on Battlefield 4 DLC

[Andy Chalk]

EA Halts Work on Battlefield 4 DLC

Electronic Arts says there will be no more work on Battlefield 4 expansions until Battlefield 4 actually works.

Electronic Arts released the China Rising DLC for Battlefield 4 yesterday [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/130194-Battlefield-4-China-Rising-DLC-Goes-Live-PS4-Patch-Delayed] and at the same time announced that a promised patch for the PlayStation 4 version of the game would be delayed. That led to some rather obvious questions about the company's priorities and why it would finish and release a DLC pack for the game while letting a much-needed update slide to an unspecified later date.

In a statement to Polygon, the company acknowledged that Battlefield 4 remains a mess and said that EA DICE is working "non-stop" to update it. "Since Battlefield 4 China Rising expansion pack was already in the final stages of development by the time issues began with Battlefield 4, we decided to fulfill our promise to deliver it this week, but we're not moving onto future projects or expansions until we sort out all the issues with Battlefield 4," it said. "We know many of our players are frustrated, and we feel their pain. We will not stop until this is right."

Battlefield 4 has suffered from a number of serious technical issues since launch; the delayed PS4 update was intended to correct a "one-hit kill" bug as well as crashes caused by overly large friends lists. EA also provided a link to the Battlefield 4 Control Room [http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf4/forum/threadview/2955065219584248915/], where status updates on all versions of the game are being maintained.

Source: Polygon [http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/4/5175588/ea-halts-battlefield-4-expansions]


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[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

That's...actually not a bad sign. It's definitely sucky for EA to release a game with bugs this severe, mind you. However, the EA of old would have just said "screw it" and keep working on the expansion packs as an excuse to not fix the bugs.

In short: bad on EA for making a game with this many issues, good on EA for fixing the issues rather than washing their hands of it and moving on.

 

[Church185]

At least they aren't only patching the game on consoles when the next DLC comes out this time... Problems used to persist for months back then because they refused to patch between DLC releases.

The "one-shot" glitch and the software crashes have to be the most infuriating things about Battlefield 4 right now. It have brought to my attention that PS4 has an automated feedback mechanism built into the OS though. Every time the game crashes on me it prompts me to send an error report. Hopefully a feature like this will allow devs to get more feedback and fix problems faster.

 

[Not Lord Atkin]

I've been saying this way too often lately but... EA, are you feeling alright? making sensible decisions, saying sensible things...?

 

[Absolutionis]

Oftentimes, the bad anti-consumer decisions of a company tend to be revealed easily while the better pro-consumer decisions just get hidden in the background. It's good for publicity that EA is publicizing this decision for positive PR. However, if their reputation wasn't already so poor, this wouldn't be necessary.

I'd prefer EA to simply avoid making messy decisions in the first place. BF4 is a buggy mess and it shouldn't have been; this is a bad thing. Fixing a product isn't a good thing; it's neutralizing a bad thing.

 

[jurnag12]

As EA apologists are often quick to point out: The people programming DLC aren't the same people working on patches.

It's not like they can't move people out of the "DLC" department and put them in the "patch" department.

While I assume part of the DLC team could be transferred, I don'tthink the graphical artists are gonna do a lot of good with the coding.

 

[Frost27]

I've been saying this way too often lately but... EA, are you feeling alright? making sensible decisions, saying sensible things...?

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut from time to time.

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

Electronic Arts says there will be no more work on Battlefield 4 expansions until Battlefield 4 actually works.

The fact this is even news speaks volumes.

After all, just think of how many buggy games still get DLC before fixes?

 

[unstabLized]

I thought they halted as in "no more work because of reasons etc etc." but wow, a sensible move. It's rare for EA to do things right nowadays, but I have to admit, it's been happening a lot more often as of last year. Can't believe I'm saying it, but good on them. Who knows, they might actually change a bit, even though I've been let down every other time I've said that.

 

[Weaver]

"Since Battlefield 4 China Rising expansion pack was already in the final stages of development by the time issues began with Battlefield 4, we decided to fulfill our promise to deliver it this week, but we're not moving onto future projects or expansions until we sort out all the issues with Battlefield 4

I'm pretty fucking sure the issues with Battlefield 4 existed before you shipped it.

 

[Atmos Duality]

As EA apologists are often quick to point out: The people programming DLC aren't the same people working on patches.

It's not like they can't move people out of the "DLC" department and put them in the "patch" department.

It wouldn't really make sense to either, since presumably the stability of the core game is important to any additional content added to it later. Either way, they have to sort their shit out before moving forward unless they wanted to make the problem WORSE further down the line.

 

[Gearhead mk2]

It's more than they did for SimCity, at least. EA is trying to change itself, that much is certain. But with all the franchises they ruined, horrible business decisions they made, bad adverts they aired, people they fired, and consumers they angered over the 7th gen, I think it might be too little too late for them.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Wow I was pretty damn sure at the title they halted DLC because BF5 was on it's way, but this is even more surprising... did someone kill EA and put on their skin, EA doing things right is just... there must be some witchcraft or unholy possession going on.

 

[TiberiusEsuriens]

I don't play Battlefield, but I do love Battlefront. As DICE is going to be making the latter, I don't know whether to be worried that this is all going to repeat again, or that they're working out all the kinks now so that Battlefront's launch will be flawless.

... who am I kidding

 

[james.sponge]

I won't be surprised if they decide to abandon BF4 altogether and announce BF5, scheduled to be release on nov 15th 2014

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

Yay, you've (rightfully) stopped work on DLC to make sure the game will start working 100%, but wouldn't have it been easier to make sure it worked in the first place?

I know making the console launch window was important to you, but when you're dragging your name, one of your developers who hasn't been gutted and one of your top selling IP's through the mud in order to meet it...