DICE Vows to Continue Fixing Battlefield 4 after Battlefield Hardline Reveal

Poor EA probably isn't too chuffed about the way Battlefield Hardline has made its way into the public eye, having to both preemptively confirm the existence of the game this week and then sit back yesterday and watch, probably while screaming, as a seven-minute video leaked its way out of loosely guarded internet pipes.

Battlefield Hardline, then, is a cops and robbers themed spin on the Battlefield series due out this year, being made by Dead Space developer Visceral Games. But some concerned series fans are now worried that EA is going to stop supporting the perpetually-troubled Battlefield 4 in order to make way for its new title. DICE boss Karl Magnus Troedsson has taken to the game's blog to say that this is not the case.

"I want to be sure you all understand that introducing Hardline in no way means we’re done working on Battlefield 4," said Troedsson. "Nothing could be further from the truth. The Visceral team is leading the development of Hardline, while the DICE team continues to drive BF4. We are committed to giving you the best BF4 experience possible."

Troedsson detailed some of the things that DICE is cooking up in its Swedish offices, presumably while coding away on its favourite brand of well-crafted flat pack furniture. These include a "major update" to the Battlefield 4 netcode, which the last time I played was still a bit wonky, an expanded version of their community test environment, and a bunch of new, completely unspecified features.

"The games we develop are services," concluded Troedsson. "We focus on taking care of the games post launch, delivering new content to those of you who want it and always working hard to increase quality of play. We also continue to work hard to keep investing in areas where you tell us you see opportunities for improvements and new features."

"Yes, we’re very excited to partner with Visceral on the development of Battlefield Hardline, but ongoing work to refine and enhance BF4 remains a top priority."