Comic-Con 2014: Battlefield: Hardline Dev Says Great Games "Transcend" Delays

Earlier this week, Visceral Games' upcoming shooter Battlefield Hardline was delayed several months into 2015. Today at a San Diego Comic-Con panel, a Visceral developer fielded a question about the delay and what it means for the game.

The developer said that Visceral never meant to delay the game, but that it turned out to be the right choice. "It was not our original intention at that time but it's been actually a blessing," he explained to the audience. "Over time, games are living longer and longer and becoming bigger and bigger, and you only get one chance to come out."

But he also argued that delays are insignificant with regards to the reception of the game. If it's good enough, a delay won't matter: "When I think about the great games I remember, I had long relationships with them. I don't remember when they came out, who cares? If it's great enough, it'll transcend all that."

But how did Battlefield Hardline come to necessitate a delay? It was playable last month, after all, when Visceral made a beta test available. But the developer said that the feedback from the beta required the team go back and rework significant parts of the game. "This work is really iterative," he said. "You think you're making one thing, but when you give it to a bunch of people, they do a bunch of other stuff, and then you go, 'I guess we made something a little different! Cool, but how could it even be better now?' So we're taking the extra time to make it better."

Recently, Battlefield 4 developer DICE explained that Hardline was pushed back to improve both single-player and multiplayer elements. Publisher Electronic Arts also revealed that Battlefield 4's last DLC pack will release later as a result of Hardline's delay. Battlefield Hardline launches early next year for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC.