DICE rolling Battlefield: Modern Combat into Xbox Next

Last week, Stockholm-based developer Digital Illusions CE, aka DICE, issued a statement in English and Swedish announcing it was working on two projects for "the next-generation platforms expected from Microsoft and Sony."

Though the next-gen games will be developed both at Digital Illusions’ Swedish and Canadian branches, the statement ended with a short schedule saying the next-gen first title wouldn't arrive until 2006 or 2007. In total, the company said it was working on two next-gen titles, one of which fell in the action category.

However, as has become its modus operandi, DICE issued a Swedish-only statement this week naming its first next-gen game. Not only did it announce the title, Electronic Arts' Battlefield: Modern Combat, but also it announced the platform, Microsoft's Xbox Next.

Interestingly, the same announcement ended with the same schedule as the previous week's, but with one slight difference. Now, Modern Combat is listed as coming out for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and "MS Nextgen" in fall 2005, adding further credence to suspicions that the Xbox Next will arrive next autumn.

It is also noteworthy that the latest announcement comes the same week that Battlefield: Modern Combat publisher EA made public its intention to acquire the remainder of DICE's stock.