14 DAY TRIAL // What we know: There are two ways of looking at Battlefield 4 and its 2013 launch: this is a great commercial success that has long-term potential as a competitive first-person shooter or this is a big launch that’s still crippled by bugs that DICE has trouble solving.
Regardless of the approach that a fan takes, it’s almost inevitable that we will see a new Battlefield title in the coming 12 months because Electronic Arts needs to deliver another experience in the series in order to cement the progress it has made against Activision’s Call of Duty.
DICE says that it is not actively working on DLC or on any other title until it fixes the bugs that the community is reporting.
But this is most likely just marketing talk and there are probably teams at the studio trying to put together a new shooter for this year.
Expect the game to arrive on the PlayStation 4, the Xbox One, the PC and current-gen consoles and a heavier focus on complex multiplayer mechanics that emphasize teamwork and progression systems.
Why it matters: Sales numbers are showing that a lower number of players than in the past few years are buying AAA first-person shooters and that could either mean that soon the entire genre could go the way of Rock Band and Guitar Hero.
It could also point to a re-arrangement of the big franchises this year and Electronic Arts needs a new Battlefield game in order to keep up with the inevitable launch of another Call of Duty.
The big surprise might be that DICE truly stays committed to the fourth full game and another studio from the wide EA stable uses Frostbite 3 in order to create the new experience.
The full list of Incoming 2014 Games articles can be read on Softpedia.