DICE: no plans to annualise Battlefield
That would "eventually kill the franchise"
Battlefield developer DICE has no plans to follow Call of Duty's lead and annualise its FPS series, according to executive producer Patrick Bach.
Bach told GamerZines that the Swedish studio doesn't feel under any pressure from publisher EA to go down that route.
"The business goals for us are not to release a game every year," he explained. "To us, we need the time to be able to create the next game that consumers will hopefully like.
"If we were to release another big Battlefield title next year, that would mean that we'd have less than a year to build it, and that would mean that we'd have to have another studio building it for us, which would mean it wouldn't have that DICE seal of approval, which would mean they'd just have to release a copy of the game we just released. Ugh, no.
"EA would never force us to release a game every year. I think that would dilute the vision of the franchise, and you will eventually kill the franchise by doing that."
Presumably Bach is referring to the core numbered Battlefield games. As pedants among you may like to note, there has in fact been at least one Battlefield game of some description released every year since 2008.
In descending order: Battlefield 3 (2011), Battlefield Online (2010), Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (2010), Battlefield 1943 (2009), Battlefield Heroes (2009) and Battlefield: Bad Company (2008).
Rather than bringing out new games every year, Bach added that releasing substantial DLC expansions, such as last year's Vietnam pack for Battlefield: Bad Company 2, is a more sustainable way of keeping gamers engaged with the franchise.
"What we noticed with Battlefield: Bad Company 2 was that if you spend enough time on making an expansion pack like Vietnam there's enough content to make it feel new and fresh. It's not only a map pack, it's weapons and vehicles, and it makes the game feel fresh again," he said.
"I think that's a more healthy way of expanding on the game experience. It's not a new game but a twist on your old game, and I think that's a healthier way of looking at a franchise rather than just trying to cram every single last penny out of it."