Battlefield 3 beta 6x larger than Bad Company 2's

In August, DICE announced that Battlefield 3 would have 10 times more in-game unlocks than 2010 predecessor Battlefield: Bad Company 2. However, that's not the only area where Battlefield 3 is surpassing its predecessor by leaps and bounds.

Writing on the Battlefield blog, DICE general manager Karl-Magnus Troedsson said the beta for Battlefield 3--which opened to all last Thursday--has attracted six times the number of simultaneous players than the beta for Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

Magnus Troedsson explained that the main purpose of the Battlefield 3 beta is to stress-test the game's servers. He also noted that the beta's game code is "quite early" and "not representative of the final game."

Lastly, Magnus Troedsson stressed the importance of gamers giving their feedback of the beta to DICE. He said these critiques will affect not only the final code of Battlefield 3, but also "future development and support."

"The final game will look, play, and sound better than the open beta," he said. "You have helped making sure of that."

The beta for Battlefield 3 is currently available to all on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, and it ends on October 10. In the beta gamers will be able to play the title's Rush mode on the Operation Metro map, set in the subways of Paris. Rush mode has two teams fighting over key strategic points on the map, with one squad designated as attackers and the other ordered to protect the locations.

Battlefield 3 will sport both a single-player campaign and an online component, which can be played with up to 64 players (for the PC version only). It will also support co-op play for its campaign and will let gamers pilot jets, among other vehicles.

For more on the modern shooter, check out GameSpot's latest preview of Battlefield 3.