DICE is "looking into" allowing console players to customize Battlefield 4 controls

Battlefield 4 executive producer Patrick Bach has said the studio is looking into allowing users to fully customize their own Battlefield controls. "We have looked into it and there is quite a lot of complexity involved in that due to first-party certification issues," said Bach in an interview with Game Informer. "There is a reason you almost never see this on console games. With that said, we are looking into how we could look into this for the future."

Battlefield 4's control scheme has been modified from Battlefield 3, with one change moving team communications to a bumper button and meaning commands such as melee and vehicle countermeasures have had to be moved to elsewhere on the controller.

"When we looked at controls in Battlefield 4 we placed the team play aspect of our controls as the highest priority. We wanted players to be familiar with using spotting and the communication rose in multiplayer as well as the engage and tactical visor in single player," said Bach.

"To accomplish this we needed a button that allowed players quick access while also enabling the player to still perform all the necessary functions of Battlefield, like shooting, aiming, moving, and melee. We also know that players require consistency, especially players who will want to move from a PS3 to a PS4 or a Xbox 360 to a Xbox One. With this in mind, we moved our teamplay functions to a bumper button, which required us to make additional changes, all to highlight one of Battlefield's key strengths. It also enabled the use of the communication rose with a controller."

Explaining the decision further, Bach said that "Our default layouts are designed to be accessible and familiar to new players, while keeping teamplay and social features close at hand."

"For people who don't like these new controls [DICE is] offering a Veteran scheme that basically returns the controls to the Battlefield 3 standard, with one major difference--the [Communications] Rose is still married to the right bumper whether you are on foot or in a vehicle, which moves countermeasures and melee attacks."

PC players are still able to freely customise their Battlefield 4 controls.

Battlefield 4 will be released on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 on October 29. Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions will follow at launch.