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How the new consoles will help DICE keep Battlefield 4 updated as an “ongoing service”

The Siege of Shanghai - Battlefield 4's sole beta map.

Battlefield 4’s multiplayer beta is in the middle distance, ETA October 4. Much of DICE’s new video to commemorate the occasion is devoted to handwringing and reassurance over the oncoming console generation hop, and therefore of little interest to us lot. The rest of it, though, is.

“The cool thing with the next-gen consoles is that it makes it even easier for us to do updates,” says executive producer Patrick Bach.

“People won’t have to struggle so much getting updates,” he elaborated. “We can just push it out to them and the game is as good as it can be.”

What’s more, the option of updating plastic boxes on standby means developers can be less wary about forcing 3GB patches on console gamers with no choice but to watch the percentage bar crawl across their TV.

DICE were never going to let the PC version of Battlefield outstrip its console counterparts, and we’ll likely continue to be held back by the Xbox 360 and PS3 for a while yet. Thankfully, though, the newer consoles should be able keep up.

“We want to get feedback not only from the beta but also from the actual game when it’s out on the market,” said Bach. “We have a history of following up with a game for months and months after its release. So to us it’s an ongoing service.”

How would you rate Battlefield 3 as an ongoing service?

Thanks, PC Gamer.