Update, December 15: New reports have called the details of the rumored Bad Company 3 into question.
Earlier this week, word came from Battlefield YouTuber TheAlmightyDaq that Battlefield: Bad Company 3 was in development for release in 2018. The story was picked up widely because he also accurately predicted Battlefield 1 ahead of its release, but some new information has made the story significantly more complicated.
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Sources close to DICE have told Eurogamer that ideas for Bad Company 3 had been around, but were not in active development. But in a now-removed Tweet, Battalion 1944 lead Joe Bramer said he was aware of the Bad Company 3 project “for a long time.” Other YouTubers in the Battlefield community cast doubt on the original report report.
TheAlmightyDaq uploaded another video yesterday, which suggests that there are in fact two Battlefield games in development: the Bad Company 3 game developed by DICE LA, the team behind much of Battlefield’s post-launch content, and a WWII game in development at DICE Sweden, the primary studio behind the franchise. While Daq maintains that Bad Company 3 is coming, he’s no longer confirming a 2018 release, and has edited the title of his original video to reflect that.
Instead, the implication is that DICE Sweden’s WW2 game will be the 2018 entry for the franchise, with Bad Company 3 following in 2019. Daq suggests that EA are moving to an annual cycle for the franchise, and that we’ll find out for sure at E3 2018.
We’ve again contacted EA for comment, and will update with their response.
Original story, December 12: If you took a poll of every Battlefield fan and asked them what they wanted, Bad Company 3 would rank pretty high, right next to ‘don’t bring that Battlefront 2 loot box stuff over here.’ According to a supposed leak, from the same YouTuber who predicted Battlefield 1 a few months before its unveiling, that’s exactly what’s going on with Battlefield 2018.
TheAlmightyDaq posted his findings, which he claims come from an inside source at DICE, over on the official subreddit. While most videos like this would be ignored, Daq has some credit for his 10 minute Battlefield 1 video from March 2016, in which he accurately predicted many details of that game long before it was publicly revealed.
As for the actual content of the game, Daq gets quite detailed. It will focus on the Vietnam era, spreading into later Cold War arcs. There will be a full campaign, natch, that will not stick rigidly to historical accuracy – much like Battlefield 1 didn’t. Tighter maps and the return of Rush – Bad Company’s most popular game mode – are also mentioned, along with Battlefield standards like Team Deathmatch and Conquest.
Everything else will sound fairly normal for Battlefield – four classes, modern weapons and armour, helicopters, the works. Microtransactions are apparently not being considered in a major way beyond the Battlepack system. While he makes no mention of it, it would be surprising to see a Battlefield game drop the season pass structure.
As one commenter pointed out, this is so exactly what the vocal community wants that it strays into being too good to be true. However, Daq has proved reliable in the past, and as replies to that comment state, DICE have been good at listening to their community – both here and on Battlefront 2.
Daq promises he’ll have a Q&A video up later this week to answer what he can from the information that was passed to him. He predicts the game won’t be shown until E3, despite Battlefield 1 being revealed earlier than that, so it will be quite a wait before we know if he was right. You can watch the full video above.
We’ve reached out to EA for comment on the matter and will update if we hear from them.