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A while back, DICE and J!NX asked you to submit designs for a Battlefield 4 T-Shirt. We’ve received tons of awesome creative submissions, and it’s been a real challenge narrowing them down to 10 finalists. But now, it’s voting time! Browse through the designs below, head to Jinx.com, and cast your vote on your favorite design. The winner will get his or her design featured on an official Battlefield 4 T-Shirt, which will be sold on J!NX and on DICE-store.com. Vote on the designs at Jinx.com “Levolution” – Created by: FreemanTheDoctor “Dog Pile Sketch” – Created by: StrawberryPup “Tag Collector Chocolate” – Created by: Sixty5South “BF4 Grunge Knockout” – Created by: MuseStricken “The Combat Medic” – Created by: bappel16 “Dunn’s words” – Created by: Brash_Attack “Flood Zone Construction” – Created by: Muz “Identity Disorder” – Created by: Fanescu “CTF Skid Steer Attack | Only in Battlefield” – Created by highergroundstudio “Caution!” – Created by: meeksian View the full article

Going into battle prepared is key to succeeding in Battlefield 4. With the new Loadout Presets, we’ve made it easier for you to quickly hit the Battlefield with the exact kit and vehicle Loadout of your choice. Prepared 4 Battle – Every TimeLoadout Presets are a way to save kit or vehicle setups so that you can easily switch between them when going into a Battlefield 4 multiplayer match. With this time-saving feature, you no longer have to edit each slot individually in the Customize screen when you want to change your Loadout. Note that Loadout Presets will only be available on Battlelog in Battlefield 4, and not be reflected in-game. You apply Presets to your Loadout, which then follows you in-game when you save it. For example, those who want quick access to a “field engineer” Preset can create one of these with the MX4, SRAW, Repair Tool, and Mechanic specialization – or any other combination of the player’s choice. If you are more of a combat engineer, you might want to create a preset with the M1014 shotgun, RPG, M2 SLAM, and Offensive specialization – it’s all up to you. You can have two presets per kit and vehicle, or four if you’re a Battlefield 4 Premium member. This allows you to quickly switch between setups based off the map or game mode you’re loading into without wasting time going through the Customize screens in-game. Creating and Managing Loadout PresetsYour Loadout Presets can be accessed through Battlelog as well as its mobile and tablet applications. Simply head to the Loadout section on Battlelog, and hit the Presets button that appears upon hovering over a kit or vehicle. Here you’ll be able to choose to save your existing kit/vehicle Loadout as a new Preset, or load an existing Preset. Additionally, Presets are accessible from a kit or vehicle page, next to the “Save” and “Reset” buttons You can have 2 Presets per kit and vehicle (or 4 if you’re a Premium user). The Preset you last chose will stay until you apply a new Preset or change your Loadout from Battlelog or in-game and will display the Preset name in the place of the kit or vehicle name. This allows you to quickly switch between setups based off the map or game mode you’re loading into, without wasting time going through the Customize screens in-game. Creating and Managing Loadout PresetsYour Loadout Presets can be accessed through Battlelog and its mobile and tablet applications. Simply head to the Loadout menu on Battlelog, and hit the Presets button. Here you’ll be able to choose slots for your presets, and give them names. To apply a preset, simply click a dropdown menu and select a used slot to apply that preset. You can have 2 presets per kit and vehicle (or 4 if you’re a Premium user). The preset you last chose will stay until you apply a new preset, or change your loadout from Battlelog or in-game. Loadouts are available on Battlelog as well as on the mobile and tablet applications. If you head to the Presets Management page, accessible by clicking “Manage” from the Presets dropdown, you’ll get an overview of all the Presets you have created. Here, you can browse through your Presets, delete them, or apply a bunch of them before you save your Loadout. Rolling out on April 8The Loadout Presets are rolling out with the Battlelog update on April 8. We will continue to tweak and add functions to the feature, based on your feedback and comments. Don’t hesitate to tell us what you think about the Loadout Presets, and we hope you will enjoy going into battle using the feature! View the full article

We wanted to provide a quick update on the issues with Battlefield 4 “rubber banding” that some players on certain platforms have experienced during matches with 64 players. Looking into this further, we’re unhappy with our server performance, so we’ll be upgrading the hardware as soon as possible, investing more to deliver a better experience. As soon as we know the exact timetable, we’ll let you know the ETA. Reducing lag for these players is absolutely a top priority for us to solve and we expect to have the solution very soon. Stay tuned to our official channels for more information. View the full article

Would you like to get your hands on the Cook & Becker print ”Aircraft Carrier in Naval Battle”, signed by the DICE art team? If so, read on and enter our new competition. This image has been made by DICE artist Robert Sammelin. The entire team behind Battlefield 4′s concept art consists of Robbert Sammelin, Henrik Sahlström, Sigurd Fernström, Eric Persson, and Mattias Häggström. Simply tell us about your best moment in Battlefield 4. This could be a description of an intense deathmatch, your first test run with a new vehicle, or any other cool experience you’ve had playing Battlefield 4. Submit your story, maximum of 500 characters, in the comments below. The most creative, original, and relevant submission (as determined by Sponsor) will be awarded with the Cook & Becker artwork. Submissions for the competition need to be posted between March 27, 5PM GMT and April 1, 5PM GMT to be eligible for the contest. The winning contribution will be posted on the Battlefield Blog on April 13. The Official Rules for the competition can be found here. The print is hand-numbered and comes with a Certificate of Authenticity signed by the entire team. By entering the Battlefield 4 “Your Best Battlefield 4 Moment Contest”, you signify that you have read and accepted the Official Rules. View the full article

The possibility to play Battlefield 4′s Commander Mode on tablets has been appreciated by many of you. Now, you can enjoy an updated version of the Commander App for Android and iOS, with many tweaks and improvements based on your feedback. Since its release three months ago, we have listened to your feedback for the Commander App on the various Battlefield 4 forums. We are very thankful for all your comments and ideas, and many of them have been worked into the latest version of the Commander App. Haven’t downloaded the Commander App yet? Hit the links below! Commander App for Android Commander App for iOS So without further ado, here are the major updates that we’ve brought to the new version of the Commander App, all designed to help you become the greatest Commander you can be: • Squad Member Visibility: You will now be able to see the player names and kits of players in a squad when it is selected • VOIP visibility: You will now be able to tell which player in a squad is talking to you through VOIP • Issuing orders to a squad now shows the position of all squad members while you are dragging out the order • You can now drop squad assets (such as promotions) directly on the squad list • If you have an XP boost active, the scoring for this will now be more visible in the UI • Lots of bug fixes and stability improvements If you want to dig down even deeper in the changes, head to the Battlelog Forum for an in-depth change log. The Commander App lets you take command – from wherever you might be. Answers to Common QuestionsYou can find answers to some of the most frequently asked questions below. If you have a question you can’t find below, don’t hesitate to ask us in the comments. On which tablets can I use the Commander App? For iOS, Commander works on iPad 2 and up, as well as iPad Mini, on tablets running iOS 6.1 and up. For Android, we have set the following minimum specs: Screen sizes 7” and up 1 GHZ dual core 1024 MB ram 1024×600 resolution Android 4.0.3 or newer Access to the Google Play store I play Battlefield 4 on Xbox 360 or Playstation 3. Can I still play Commander on tablet? Absolutely! The Commander App works with any platform you can run Battlefield 4 on. How do I select a specific server to join? You can select specific servers to join through the Battlelog App. Simply go into Multiplayer, select a server, and join using the “Commander” button. This will automatically launch the Commander app and join the server. How can I use VOIP to talk to the members on my team? Select the squad you want to talk to, then press and hold the VOIP button on the bottom right to talk to the squad. We recommend using a headset for the best VOIP experience. VOIP is currently supported on PC and Playstation 4. What about VOIP on XBOX One? This will hopefully arrive very soon. As a PC player, can I see team chat? Yes! You will be able to see all chat, team chat and the selected squad’s chat. Does the Commander App work over both 3G and WiFi? Yes. Can I play as a Commander on my tablet while playing as a soldier on my console/PC? We want players to be fully committed when playing, you will only be able to be logged in on either the tablet or system of choice. I own Battlefield 4 on two or more systems, how do I choose which one to connect to on my tablet? When you first login, you will be prompted to choose one of your active soldiers. After that, you can easily switch between them in the Settings menu. Will you release the Commander App for mobile phones or Windows tablets? Currently we have no such plans. View the full article

UPDATE 3/27: Battlefield 4 Naval Strike is starting to roll out for Premium members on Xbox One today. We look forward to seeing you on the Battlefield! UPDATE: We wanted to provide more detail about the delay of Battlefield 4 Naval Strike. We have delayed the PC version of Naval Strike because we are concerned that the combination of the pack and planned PC updates would increase performance issues on mid-range to high-end PCs. We are working hard to resolve that issue now. Additionally, we have decided to delay the Xbox One version of Naval Strike because we want to address issues in the animation system that hinder players from engaging targets in set circumstances using popular weapon configurations. We know that many Battlefield 4 Premium owners wanted to play Naval Strike today. However, we didn’t want to release the new content until we believed it was quality content. We are trying to resolve these problems as quickly as possible and hope to release the update in early April for Xbox One and PC. We also want to remind Xbox One and PC owners of Battlefield 4 Premium that they will have two weeks early access for Naval Strike once it’s released. Thanks for your continued patience and passion for our games. On March 25, Battlefield 4 Premium members on PS4, PS3 and Xbox 360 will be able to experience the ultimate sea-to-sea warfare in the third expansion pack for Battlefield 4. Battlefield 4 Naval Strike takes the intense and dramatic water-based combat introduced in Battlefield 4 to four all-new maps set in the South China Sea while introducing a new game mode and vehicle. However, we are delaying the launch of Battlefield 4 Naval Strike on PC. We’ve detected an issue and it needs to be solved. Quality is our number one priority and we will not release Battlefield 4 Naval Strike on PC until we feel it meets the highest quality level possible. Once we have a confirmed date for PC, we’ll be sure to update those players on our official channels. We appreciate your patience and look forward to seeing everyone on the Battlefield. Four all-new maps: • Lost Islands: Blow open a crashed passenger plane and capture fishing villages across these tropical islands. • Wave Breaker: Drop a submarine on your foes as you infiltrate a naval base or rush between shipping docks and rocky islands on this massive map. • Nansha Strike: Wage war across stormy seas in the largest ocean stretch in a Battlefield map yet. • Operation Mortar: Storm an abandoned cliff-side resort, or get lost in the breathtaking vistas in this map. Battlefield 4 Naval Strike also lets you re-live the classic Titan Mode of Battlefield 2142, with the new Carrier Assault game mode. Your objective is to destroy the enemy team’s carrier before they infiltrate and destroy yours. You start out fighting a big-scale war with sea, land, and air vehicles controlling the map, and then everything evolves into an infantry-focused, close quarter fight inside both carriers at the same time! Lean more about Carrier Assault in this blog post on Battlefield.com. Water-based combat has always been a vital part of the all-out war in Battlefield, and with the introduction of the amphibious hovercraft vehicle, your possibilities to dominate the sea will be even greater. Additionally, you can wreak havoc with five new weapons, two additional gadgets and ten assignments. Get a head start with Battlefield 4 Naval Strike by becoming a Battlefield 4 Premium member. This will grant you early access to the upcoming Battlefield 4 expansion packs, new weekly content, and exclusive personalization options. Learn more at http://www.battlefield.com/battlefield-4/premium. View the full article

YOUR BEST BATTLEFIELD 4 MOMENT - OFFICIAL RULES NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. To Enter: You will need a free Origin account to participate in this contest. IF you do not already have an Origin account you can visit www.origin.com/create to create one for free. 1. Eligibility: YOUR BEST BATTLEFIELD 4 MOMENT (the “Contest”) is open only to legal residents of Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada (excluding Quebec), Chile, China, including Taiwan, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom and the United States (including the District of Colombia) who are at least as old as the minimum age of majority in the jurisdiction from which they enter the Contest. Those who are employees of Electronic Arts Inc. or its affiliates, subsidiaries, representatives, advertising, promotion and publicity agencies (“Sponsor and its agents”) or who are immediate family members or persons living in the same household of each such employee are not eligible. Subject to all applicable laws and regulations. Void where prohibited. By participating in the Contest, the participant signifies his or her full and unconditional agreement to these Official Rules. 2. Timing: The Contest begins on MARCH 27, 2014 at 5PM Greenwich Mean Time (“GMT”) and ends on APRIL 2, 2014 at 5PM GMT (the “Contest Period”) and consists of the phases set forth in the chart below: PhaseStart Date at 5:00PM GMTEnd Date at 5:00PM GMTSubmissionMARCH 27, 2014APRIL 1, 2014JudgingAPRIL 1, 2014APRIL 2, 2014 IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ENTRANTS: ENTRANTS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR DETERMINING THE APPLICABLE CONTEST ENTRY PERIOD TIMES IN THEIR RESPECTIVE TIME ZONES. 3. How to Enter: During the Submission phase, visit http://blogs.battlefield.com/2014/03/your-best-bf4-moment/ (the “Contest Site” or “Site”), log in with your Origin account, and follow the directions to submit your written description of your best moment in Battlefield 4 (collectively, the “Entry”). By uploading your Submission, you agree that it conforms to the Submission Guidelines and Content Restrictions as defined below (collectively, the “Guidelines and Restrictions”) and that Sponsor, may disqualify you from the Contest if it believes, in its sole discretion that your Submission fails to conform to the Guidelines and Restrictions. Guidelines and Restrictions: Content Requirements Entries must pertain to the theme of “best moment in Battlefield 4”, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. No group, or team efforts, or multi-author(ed) designs will be accepted in this Contest. For purposes of this Contest all Entries will be presumed authored by the person submitting the Entry. Entries submitted in this Contest must not contain any pornography, or other illicit, illegal, defamatory, morally offensive or obscene content, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. Sponsor, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to disqualify any Entry containing racial, religious, or ethnic slurs, explicit language, obscene, pornographic, violent, or sexual content, or libel, hate speech, references to alcohol, drugs or other illicit substances, or otherwise objectionable, offensive, illegal, inappropriate or prohibited material. Submission of previously published written works is prohibited. Any Entry that incorporates prohibited content, including but not limited to, third party creations, trademarks, names, or other third party property(ies), or the work of creative consultants, or any content that is pornographic, illicit, or otherwise in Sponsor’s sole and absolute discretion violates the above Guidelines and/or is not in compliance with these Official Rules, may not be accepted for entry and may not be eligible to win any prize in this Contest. By entering, entrants warrant that their Entries contain only Sponsor-provided Contest Assets, if any, and/or their own, Original Creations. Entrants further warrant their Entries do not contain any third party copyrighted materials, and otherwise do not violate or infringe the rights, including, without limitation, copyrights, trademark rights or rights of publicity/privacy, of any third party. Limitations • Each entrant may enter the Contest one (1) time during the Contest Period. Submissions received from any person or email address in excess of the stated limit will be void. • Uploading a Submission constitutes entrant’s consent to give Sponsor a royalty-free, irrevocable, non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, modify, publish, create derivative works from, and display such submissions in whole or in part, on a worldwide basis, and to incorporate it into other works, in any form, media or technology now known or later developed, including for promotional or marketing purposes. If requested, entrant will sign any documentation required for Sponsor or its designees to make use of the non-exclusive rights entrant is granting to use the Submission. Sponsor (as defined in Section 10 below) and its agents are not responsible for lost, late, stolen, damaged, incomplete, invalid, un-intelligible, garbled, delayed or misdirected Submissions, all of which will be void. Physical copies of Submissions become the property of Sponsor and will not be returned. • In the event of a dispute regarding any Submission, the authorized account holder of the email address used to register will be deemed to be the entrant or participant. The “authorized account holder” is the natural person assigned an email address by an Internet access provider, online service provider or other organization responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted address. Each potential winner may be required to show proof of being an authorized account holder. • Only English submissions will be accepted in the Contest. • Submissions need to be 500 characters or less. 4. Personal Information: Nothing in these Official Rules shall be deemed to exclude or restrict any of the winner’s or the entrant’s statutory rights as a consumer. Participation in the Contest implies authorization to collect, use and disclose entrant’s personal information including the right to transfer personal data to the United States for purposes of administration of the Contest and prize fulfillment. All information submitted to the Sponsor as part of this Contest will be treated in accordance with EA’s privacy policy, available at Personal information includes name, address, email address, birthday and will be used to: (a) contact potential winners; and ( if an entrant selects to receive additional information from the EA on the entry form, to send additional information to that entrant. The recipient of your personal data is the Sponsor and Administrator. YOUR INFORMATION WILL NOT BE STORED OR PROCESSED ON SERVERS LOCATED IN THE EUROPEAN UNION. Entrants have the right to access, withdraw, and correct their personal data. Entrants may request such action by sending a message with the request, subject line “YOUR BEST BATTLEFIELD 4 MOMENT CONTEST” to bfcommunity@dice.se. For Residents of Germany: This personal information is collected and processed only for the purposes of organising, running and monitoring the campaign. The organising entity shall be considered the data controller for the database containing this personal information and provides for an appropriate data protection level. Entrants have the right to access, withdraw, and correct their personal data. Entrants may request such action by sending a message with the request, subject line “YOUR BEST BATTLEFIELD 4 MOMENT CONTEST” to bfcommunity@dice.se. For Residents of France: Personal information provided to the Sponsor in the course of this Promotion shall be processed according to the Legislation “Informatique et Libertés n°78-17” of January 6th, 1978. 5. Winner Determination: Winners will be determined according to the process set forth below. a) Judging Phase: During the Judging Phase, a panel of qualified judges determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion will select one (1) entrant with the highest-scoring Submission (the “Top Entry” or “Top Entries”) based on the following criteria (“Judging Criteria”): 30% Originality, 50% Creativity, and 20% Appropriateness to Topic. In the event of a tie, the entrant whose Submission received the highest score for Creativity, as determined by the qualified judges, in their sole discretion, will be deemed the potential Grand Prize winner. 6. Notification: The potential winners will be notified by email on or about April 3, 2014. Except where prohibited, each potential winner will be required to sign and return an Declaration of Eligibility and Release of Publicity and Liability, which must be received by Sponsor, within ten (10) days of the date notice or attempted notice is sent, in order to claim his/her prize. If any potential winner cannot be contacted, fails to sign and return the Declaration of Eligibility and Release of Publicity and Liability within the required time period, or prize is returned as undeliverable, potential winner forfeits prize. In the event that a potential winner is disqualified for any reason, Sponsor will award the applicable prize to an alternate winner using the skill-based criteria set forth above. Only three (3) alternative winners will be selected, after which EA retains the discretion to donate the applicable prize to a charity of Sponsor’s choosing. 7. Prizes: One (1) framed BATTLEFIELD 4 themed artwork named the “Aircraft Carrier in Naval Battle”, with a value of 150 USD/108 Euros. If for any reason an advertised prize is unavailable, Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value. The odds of winning depend upon the number of eligible entries received and relative skill of entrants. Allow two (2) weeks for shipment of prize(s). 8. General Terms: a. By participating in this Contest, each participant agrees: (1) To the extent allowable under applicable law, to release and hold harmless Sponsor and its agents from any and all liability or any injury, loss, damage, right, claim or action of any kind arising from or in connection with this Contest or any Contest-related activity or the receipt, possession, use or misuse of any prize won, except for residents of the United Kingdom, France and Germany with respect to claims resulting from death or personal injury arising from EA’s negligence and for residents of the United Kingdom with respect to claims resulting from the tort of deceit or any other liabilities that may not be excluded by law; (2) That EA’s decisions will be final and binding on all matters related to this Contest; (3) That by accepting a prize, EA may use your name and place of residence online or in any other media, in connection with this Contest, without payment or compensation to the winner or anyone else, except where prohibited ; and (4) The Contest is governed by the laws of the United States and all claims must be resolved in the United States. b. EA reserves the right to cancel, suspend and/or modify the Contest, or any part of it, if any fraud, technical failures or any other factor impairs the integrity or proper functioning of the Contest, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. If terminated, Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, determine the winners from among all non-suspect, eligible entries received up to time of such action using the judging procedure outlined above. Sponsor, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to disqualify any individual it finds to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Contest or to be acting in violation of these Official Rules or those of any other Contest or in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner and void all associated entries. Any attempt by any person to deliberately undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest may be a violation of criminal and civil law, and, should such an attempt be made, Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages and other remedies (including attorneys’ fees) from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law. Sponsor’s failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision. c. Winners are responsible for any applicable taxes on prizes. 9. Winner(s) List: We will post the name of the confirmed winner online after April 13, 2014 at blogs.battlefield.com. This list will remain posted until December 31, 2014. 10. Sponsor: Electronic Arts Inc., 209 Redwood Shores Parkway, Redwood City, CA 94065. © 2014 Electronic Arts Inc. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. View the full article

Four all-new maps focused on intense naval warfare await you in Battlefield 4 Naval Strike. To give you a detailed tour of these wet and wild vistas, we hand over to lead gameplay designer Gustav Halling. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X8oGy4G7tM The four all-new maps in Battlefield 4 Naval Strike were designed with a simple premise in mind: to expand on what players loved with the naval warfare from Battlefield 4. It’s our hope you’ll enjoy the new maps immensely, whether you’re trying out the new Carrier Assault mode or piloting the new Hovercraft. Naturally, we have also crafted the surroundings with infantry and non-naval vehicles in mind. So without further ado, let’s go through the four maps of Naval Strike. Lost IslandsStarting with Lost Islands, this map focuses around a crashed airplane located near the center of the map. The map itself contains several small islands surrounding the crash site that can be traversed using quad bikes around the whole map, or by using boats (including the new hovercraft) to take shortcuts across it. The key to master this map is to control the plane at the crash site, which can be blown open to give infantry some much needed cover. Another special area of this map is the cave blanketed by a waterfall, as it provides visual cover for patrolling boats and helicopters. Nansha StrikeNansha Strike is a very boat heavy map with several bases spread out in the water to battle it out on, while at the same time allowing total infantry control of the middle areas. The central area provides a lot of cover for infantry and is a death trap for water vehicles if they try to enter it via the small rivers. The surrounding bases can be captured from the water, with some offering big bases in the middle of the sea for infantry. This is where the more powerful vehicles spawn, which makes them key to own and control. Wave BreakerWave Breaker has a unique submarine base hidden in the middle mountain which allows for tight close quarter combat, but it also has wide canals where it’s possible to do drive-bys with the attack boats to add extra mayhem to the mix. The middle area has many different Levolution possibilities. You can for instance bring down a submarine from its support and turn off the lights in the surrounding corridors. It’s also possible to stop boats from entering the area by closing the four flood gates and blocking the direct path from the bases on the two sides. The middle island will give players intense fights in Deathmatch modes. Operation MortarOperation Mortar is our vacation paradise turned into a war zone, with wooden huts surrounding the islands. There is an old fort on the top of the mountain, which provides a great overview over the whole map. It also gives the team owning it a fast way to capture the other bases on the main island. In Rush, this levels starts from the bottom of the islands and goes up towards the fort, providing interesting and fun vertical gameplay which will provide a big challenge for attackers. Coming March 25 for Premium MembersWe hope you are excited to get hands-on with these new four maps and the full Battlefield 4 Naval Strike expansion when it becomes available on March 25. Remember to take the poll below and let us know which map you think will provide the best Battlefield battles via land, air and of course sea. Battlefield 4 Naval Strike is releasing first for Battlefield 4 Premium members on March 25. Get Battlefield 4 Premium. Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. View the full article

Take a unique first glimpse at the gameplay of Battlefield 4 Naval Strike. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X8oGy4G7tM Prepare for the ultimate sea-to-sea warfare as you’ll be taking the intense and dramatic water-based combat introduced in Battlefield 4 to the next level. Pilot the new amphibious hovercraft vehicle through four all-new maps set in the South China Sea including Lost Islands, Nansha Strike, Wave Breaker and Operation Mortar. Gear up for battle with 5 all-new weapons and 2 additional gadgets, the 3GL (3 grenade launcher) and the Anti-Heli Mine. You’re going to need all the firepower you can harness if you seek to master the Carrier Assault game mode – a re-imagining of the classic Battlefield 2142 Titan Mode. Battlefield 4 Naval Strike is releasing two weeks early for Premium members on March 25th. Get Battlefield 4 Premium. View the full article

10 years have now passed since the DICE classic Battlefield Vietnam saw the light of day. To celebrate this very special 10-year-old, join us for a trip down memory lane, fueled by “Ride of the Valkyries” and reminiscence from some of our developer veterans… Roland Smedberg, Björn Hedberg, Patrik O’Shaughnessy, and Oscar Carlén: four of the many DICE vets behind Battlefield Vietnam. A decade ago, the Battlefield franchise was in its cradle – but the impact of the groundbreaking Battlefield 1942 and its expansions had been heard clearly around the world. Naturally, fans of the game was eager to see what was on the horizon. Development duties for the next Battlefield fell upon the newly opened DICE Canada who on March 14, 2004, released the game that now is hitting the big 1-0: Battlefield Vietnam. Battlefield Vietnam stayed true to the formula of its predecessor, featuring rock-paper-scissors gameplay, vast maps, and battles at land, sea, and air. This time, players found themselves in the middle of the Vietnam War, playing for either the US (Green Beret) or North Vietnam (NVA) side. Lots of care and fine-tuning went into conceptual design of these new environments, resulting in multiplayer maps like the verdant Ho Chi Minh Trail or the vast Operation Hastings. Mikael Rudberg, producer on Battlefield Vietnam at the time, remembers the foundations of the concept: “Our so called ‘X’ for the game was ‘The Hollywood Vietnam experience in Battlefield’ – something we believe we managed to meet very well. There were many things that made Battlefield Vietnam stand out; the chance to play 70’s music in vehicles, the tunnels, the procedural under- and overgrowth, and of course the asymmetric factions – e.g. napalm versus punji sticks.” In Battlefield Vietnam the four classes to choose from were Assault, Heavy Assault, Engineer, and Scout. The kit of each class was equipped with two different loadouts. This asymmetry between the two factions, based on the actual war in Vietnam, gave players vastly different conditions when playing for either the Green Beret or NVA side. Even though the US had access to heavy artillery, their enemies had potent counter-measures and other advantages designed to balance the gameplay. For instance, players who preferred the Vietnam side will remember the spawning advantages of the Sipi Holes. Asymmetrical gameplay was not the only example of how DICE Canada tried out many creative design ideas for Battlefield Vietnam. Patrick O’Shaughnessy, QA Lead at the time, reveals a game mode that was intended for the game: “There was actually an entirely new game mode that was cut late in the project. It was called Challenge Mode and let you play by yourself to try to complete small missions, like defending a flag against AI attackers for 3 minutes with only a pistol, or capturing all the flags on this map using a helicopter. It was a lot of fun, even when it was unfinished.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWTawYrpjdE As the trailer above demonstrates, one other unique and iconic aspect of Battlefield Vietnam was the licensed soundtrack. Among others, bands like Deep Purple, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and The Trashmen all contributed to the special atmosphere of the game, and for Battlefield fans it’s hard to hear “The Ride of the Valkyries” without thinking about their clashes in Battlefield Vietnam. “The iconic music really set the tone for me,” says DICE veteran Roland Smedberg, director/editor on Battlefield Vietnam. “Getting to show off the game to those awesome tracks was a great feeling, having grown up watching all those Vietnam movies like Apocalypse Now and Platoon. There is actually a nod to Platoon and the death of Elias in one of the trailers. And of course, we loved using ‘The Ride of the Valkyries’ with tons of choppers, like in Apocalypse Now.” “I got so great at flying attack choppers that I was unstoppable when the game launched. For a week. Then everyone was shooting me out of the sky instantly.” – Roland Smedberg, Director/Editor, on being brought down to earth. With addictive gameplay, great map design, exciting vehicles and weapons, and iconic presentation, Battlefield Vietnam has aged well and we hope you share our excitement for this anniversary. Looking back, producer Mikael Rudberg is also proud as a peacock of the final game: “We were around 35 people that created Battlefield Vietnam in only 11 months, but the final game turned out really well. That is probably my fondest memory from development; to succeed in making a really compelling product that extended the Battlefield universe.” We hope you have enjoyed this post. Share your best Battlefield Vietnam memories with us in the comments below, and make sure to take the poll. Thank you for reading! Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. View the full article

As the release of Battlefield 4 Naval Strike approaches, we have received several questions from the Battlefield community about the expansion. To answer these questions, we hand over to lead gameplay designer Gustav Halling. What was the main design goal you set out with Battlefield 4 Naval Strike? The design philosophy behind Battlefield 4 Naval Strike was to expand on what makes naval warfare and water-based vehicles fun in Battlefield 4. We know that there are many fans of Paracel Storm in our community, and with this expansion we wanted to give players who love that map more variations in the naval gameplay. What’s the biggest challenge when designing naval-focused maps? As always when working with water-based maps the challenge is to give naval units a prominent role on the Battlefield, and at the same time give infantry players enough areas to fight around – and also create space for fast transport vehicles. That is why we focused on making a wide variation of vehicle- and infantry-focused bases on all the maps in Battlefield 4 Naval Strike. What are the four new maps of Battlefield 4 Naval Strike? You will get to wage war in the tropical Lost Islands map, in the massive level Wave Breaker, through the stormy weather of Nansha Strike, and by the breathtaking vistas in Operation Mortar. Stay tuned for an in-depth breakdown of all four maps here on the Battlefield Blog! What kind of Levolution can we expect in Naval Strike? Will there be storms like the one in Paracel Storm? In Naval Strike we have been focusing on how the player can interact within the levels to create and block paths for vehicles, or make other strategic use of the environments. For example, you will be able to close flood doors to stop vehicles from entering a submarine base and capturing the objective inside. You can also blow up part of a crashed airplane to create new cover for infantry. As for storms, instead of copying what has already been done in Paracel Storm, you can expect different visual styles and weather on all four Naval Strike maps. There’ll be calm seas, stormy weather and many other weather effects. For instance, on the Mortar Strike map, you’ll start fighting at dawn and the map will be lit up by the resort lights. As the fight rages on, the sunrise will drench the tropical island in beautiful sunlight. What can we expect for the new Hovercraft and how will the vehicle affect gameplay? The new hovercraft, or ACV, is a very fast transport vehicle with a driver and a passenger position that travels seamless between water and land. This unique ability has many advantages; you can for instance maneuver away from boats by short cutting through an island instead of going around it. These new abilities are exciting for us to bring to our players and I can’t wait to see what crazy stuff we will see from this vehicle in the game! What new gadgets will there be in Battlefield 4 Naval Strike? First off, we have the new M320 3GL gadget that will give the players the possibility to fire three grenades without reloading. With smaller explosives, the M320 3GL will be great for tight corridors, but it will also require accurate shots to get the kill. If you play as Engineer, you will be able to use the new Anti-Heli Mine, an aircraft disabling projectile. This will provide a way to block off small paths for air vehicles and could for example be used to cover a certain area behind the player in order to avoid surprises from low flying helicopters. It is however a challenge to get kills with the Anti-Heli Mines, since pilots can use countermeasures and flare them off, like with any other lock-on weapon. With naval maps only, how do you balance the gameplay so that all kinds of vehicles still are important? Battlefield 4 Naval Strike is focusing on naval warfare. Some land vehicles will be there, but they are very limited to give way for vehicles like attack boats, PWC’s, and the new ACV. There will of course also be air vehicles. But as mentioned: with Naval Strike focusing on water-based fights, there will be a limited pool of land vehicles. What is the Carrier Assault game mode? Carrier Assault is our homage to the classic Titan mode in Battlefield 2142, where two teams fight over control over each other’s massive aircraft carriers, by using missiles and infantry attacks. Learn more about Carrier Assault in this blog post. What will make Battlefield 4 Naval Strike an awesome expansion? All that you’ve come to love with naval warfare in Battlefield 4 will be even more intense and fast-paced in Battlefield 4 Naval Strike. Whether you’ll be taking insane shortcuts with your Hovercraft or securing a narrow win in Carrier Assault, it’s our ambition that you’ll truly enjoy the all-out war in the South China Sea. Battlefield 4 Naval Strike is releasing first for Battlefield 4 Premium members late March. Get Battlefield 4 Premium. View the full article

One exciting feature of the upcoming Battlefield 4 Naval Strike expansion is the Carrier Assault game mode, where two opposing teams launch attacks on each others aircraft carriers. To explain the ins and outs of Carrier Assault, we hand over to lead gameplay designer Gustav Halling. Carrier Assault is an homage to the Titan game mode of Battlefield 2142, but this time the all-out war rages in the South Chinese Sea, and your objective is to destroy the enemy team’s carrier before they infiltrate and destroy yours. Our goal has been to make Carrier Assault a really engaging game mode, and we truly believe the amount of variety present each round will assure this. You start out fighting a big-scale war with sea, land, and air vehicles controlling the map, and then everything evolves into an infantry-focused, close quarter fight inside both carriers at the same time! Carrier Assault ExplainedSo how is a match of Carrier Assault played out? There are two ways of destroying the enemy carrier: either by full map control or assaulting the carrier as infantry. Each round is divided into 2 stages, starting with map control and ending with carrier attack. Both teams start on their own carrier and race to control the missile launchers placed on the map, by capturing the control points near them. This will automatically launch missiles towards the enemy carrier throughout the round, eventually destroying its hull and making it open for infantry attacks. When this happens for one or both teams, the carrier assault state is started. The team can then either drive a boat out to the carrier and climb aboard, or use the parachute spawn points above it. Once inside, the team must destroy two M-COM stations, which will open up new areas to the carrier, with the engine room being the final one. Destroying the two M-COM’s, or bringing down the carrier hull’s health to 0%, will win the match for your team. See the video below for a quick tutorial. An Hommage to a Classic Game ModeBattlefield 2142 and Titan mode veterans will feel right at home with Carrier Assault, with the unique focus of giving players several options to win the match – either through map control or close quarter fighting inside the enemy HQ. The differences in setting and time period do however make Carrier Assault a fresh experience, and we hope you will get the same thrill out of parachute-spawning down to a carrier as you did when blasting off in a rocket pod towards a Titan. Challenges Along the WayCarrier Assault has been a fun challenge to develop, with many important aspects to be aware of. As fans of the old Titan mode, we really wanted to nail the end game part of the game mode, where both teams are attacking each other’s carriers. From a design point of view, it was important to create that special feeling of excitement that the potential different outcomes of a match generates. We also wanted to keep control of the map important, so a team which is having trouble pushing through inside the enemies’ carrier can still win the level by defending their own carrier while controlling the missile launchers. Coming Late MarchWe hope you will have fun with Carrier Assault when it launches later this month. Please share your thoughts on this game mode in the comments below, and make sure to keep Battlefield 4 Naval Strike on your radar the following weeks. Thanks for reading! Carrier Assault will be playable in Battlefield 4 Naval Strike, releasing first for Battlefield 4 Premium members late March. Get Battlefield 4 Premium. View the full article

We at DICE are committed to improving the overall Battlefield 4 multiplayer experience for our players. Some issues, commonly referenced in conjunction to “netcode” are preventing Battlefield 4 from performing optimally for everyone, and with this post we would like to explain what we are doing to address these problems. Fixing the commonly nicknamed “netcode issues” – problems ranging between faulty networking latency compensation and glitches in the gameplay simulation itself – is one of the top priorities for DICE. We’d like to take a moment to discuss how we are addressing these issues, as this is a very hot topic for many of our fans. We are working on fixing glitches in your immediate interactions with the game world: the way you move and shoot, the feedback when you’re hit, and the way other players’ actions are shown on your screen. The game receives updates from the game server and displays these to the player using a system called latency compensation – this system makes sure players move around naturally on your screen when network updates arrive. We have found and fixed several issues with latency compensation, and thereby decreased the impressions of “one hit kills” in the game. We have also fixed several issues that could lead to rubber banding, and we are working on fixing several more. Below you’ll find a detailed list of the issues we are focusing on, or have already adjusted in-game. We hope this gives you more insight into the “netcode” issues and we will continue to keep you updated on top issues. What we are Fixing or InvestigatingRubber banding We have made several server optimizations that have decreased rubber banding for some players. To further address the issue, there are upcoming fixes for packet loss and a customize screen bug, both connected to the rubber banding issue. Furthermore, we will continue to collect data to pinpoint exactly when and why rubber banding is occurring. Kill camera delay / Player death sync On some occasions, the kill camera would trigger before the game client displayed the last portion of damage being dealt, giving players the impression that they died too early. There were also issues with blood effects, damage indicators, and the health bar in the HUD being out of sync. A fix for this will be included in the next game update. Tickrate Players have been asking whether the tickrate – how often the server will update the game world – in Battlefield 4 will be higher in the future. Though we haven’t got any immediate plans to increase the tickrate at this moment, we are exploring the possibilities of raising the tickrate on specific servers. No registered damage We are aware of the bug where players have been firing at their opponent and not doing damage. In the February 13 game update for PC, we added a piece of code that enables us to specifically track instances where this would occur. We are currently looking at when this issue is triggered, and what causes it. The data that we receive will help us to further improve the firefights in the future. Instant death while sprinting At certain occasions while walking or sprinting, a player could get catapulted at high speed which would cause death if any object was standing in the way. This was caused by a mathematical error in the character physics code, and we have a fix prepared for an upcoming patch. Various Items In addition to these items, there are also fixes coming for issues with Levolution being out of sync, shots appearing to be fired in the wrong direction, and vehicles outside the infantry area not taking damage when fired at. Also, we have introduced new in-game icons that will help you, and us, to troubleshoot network related problems that could cause an inconsistent multiplayer experience. Network Troubleshooting Icons With the January 30-31 game updates, we’ve introduced two new icons to the Battlefield 4 HUD (head-up display). These were added to the game as a way for us, and the players, to more easily troubleshoot common network-related issues that may have negative effects on the multiplayer experience. The first icon, seen at the top in the shape of a clock, indicates that your connection to the server is lagging. There can be several reasons for this. For example, it could mean that someone else is using your connection while you are playing, but it could also mean that there is a network problem that occurred somewhere between you and the server. The effect of such lag is that it will take a bit longer for you to see what is happening in the game world. If this icon is frequently blinking, you might want to try a different server or see if you can decrease the load on your Internet connection. The second icon, at the bottom, shows four squares that indicate packet loss. When you see this icon, your connection to the server is experiencing lost packets, which means that information is failing to reach its destination, either when your game client sends it to the server or when the server sends the information to you. Please keep in mind that packets always get lost on the Internet and that you should not be alarmed if you’re seeing this icon blinking once or twice. If you have a large amount of packet loss and see the icon often, you will probably experience game “hiccups” sometimes – action will stop for a moment, then speed ahead to catch up. What we have FixedKill card shows 0 health Kill card sometimes incorrectly displays 0 health, despite the enemy being alive. This could happen when a portion of damage dealt was rejected by the server, since the bullets that caused it were fired after the point of death for the firing player – the kill card would show the health as predicted by your game client, rather than the health confirmed by the server. An improvement that decreased the rate at which this happens went live for PC on Feb 13, and will be included in the next game update for all the platforms. Broken collision We have fixed instances of broken collision that made it impossible for players to shoot past broken objects, such as the collapsed chimney on Zavod 311. Crosshair disappearing, resulting in hit markers disappearing In firefights, players on PC could experience their crosshair disappearing, resulting in hit markers also disappearing. This would happen when certain gadgets were deployed by other players. A fix for this is now live. Hit impact sounds Impact sounds did not match the number of bullet impacts, causing players to feel that they died too quickly. An improvement to this went live for PC on February 13, and will be included in the next update for all the other platforms. The cooldown time for letting bullet hits trigger the sound has been decreased considerably, so players will now hear every bullet that hits them. Headshot icon We have re-introduced the headshot icon to help players understand when they get killed by a headshot, something that usually results in an instant death. The headshot icon went live in the January 30-31 game update for all platforms. We want to assure you that we are constantly investigating, or already in the process of updating, all these items and several more that you’ve had concerns with – and that we will continue to do so with your help. Please continue to send us your feedback, and thank you for your continued support. Remember to visit the Battlefield 4 Control Room regularly for all intel on game updates. View the full article

Battlefield 4 Naval Strike takes the dramatic water-based combat introduced in Battlefield 4 to four all-new maps set in the South China Sea. Take control over new weapons and gadgets, pilot the new hovercraft vehicle, and experience the Carrier Assault game mode in this intense expansion pack. Read on for details and the first official screenshots. Take the Fight to the SeaWater-based combat has always been a vital part of the all-out war of Battlefield 4, and with Battlefield 4 Naval Strike the fights at sea are more intense than ever. With the introduction of the amphibious hovercraft vehicle, your possibilities to dominate the sea will be even greater. Four All-New Multiplayer MapsBlow open a crashed passenger plane and capture fishing villages across the tropical Lost Islands. Drop a submarine on your foes as you infiltrate a naval base or rush between shipping docks and rocky islands on the massive Wave Breaker map. Wage war across stormy seas in the largest ocean stretch in a Battlefield map yet with Nansha Strike. Storm an abandoned cliff-side resort, or get lost in the breathtaking vistas in Operation Mortar. A Classic Game Mode Re-ImaginedBattlefield 4 Naval Strike lets you re-live the classic Titan Mode of Battlefield 2142, with the introduction of the Carrier Assault game mode. Stay tuned to the Battlefield Blog for more details on this re-imagining of a classic. Battlefield 4 Naval Strike will be released late March for Battlefield 4 Premium members. To get a two-week head start with Battlefield 4 Naval Strike and other upcoming Battlefield 4 expansion packs, secure a Battlefield 4 Premium membership. View the full article

Soon, fans of Battlefield 4 will be able to come together as one persistent unit and show the world where they belong. Rolling out starting February 27 as part of the Player Appreciation Month, the first iteration of Platoons is coming to Battlefield 4. UPDATE: Platoons are now available for all Battlelog users. You will find it in the Soldier dropdown menu on Battlelog, as well as on a new tile on Home. You can leave feedback for the new feature in the Battlelog forums. Show the World Where You BelongPlatoons in Battlefield 4 is a way for you and your friends to get together, organize yourselves, communicate, and fight together to improve your Platoon. Whether you want to share experiences in a more private space, or show the world who has the most skilled, most awesome Battlefield 4 team around, Platoons is the way to go. Platoons in a NutshellSo what can you expect when Platoons launches during this and next week? Let’s look at the main features you will have access to in the first iteration of Platoons: • The ability to create and join a Platoon for up to 100 members. • Basic Platoon management such as inviting, applying, and promoting/demoting members. • A private and public Platoon feed, where you can communicate and coordinate. • A Platoon emblem and tag that all members can easily apply. • The ability to earn stats for your Platoon and rank it up, and see all the matches you played together. Our goal is to make it both fun and easy for you to get organized and be part of the best Battlefield 4 Platoon ever created. Whether you want to discuss your past games and plan the next, or get competitive and see who your Platoon is up against, the feature will be as powerful and intuitive as possible. Make Your Platoon Stand OutThere will be several different customization options for your Platoon. Apart from setting a Platoon name and 4-character tag, you will of course also be able to design your very own Platoon emblem, which all members can easily use as their own. If the emblem gets updated, for example, you don’t need to worry; the changes will automatically be applied and your Platoon tag and emblem will without extra effort follow you in-game. Besides that, you can write a presentation text for your Platoon and set the address for your website, if your Platoon has one. Earn Stats for your Platoon and Rank UpPlatoons for Battlefield 4 also feature a brand new progression and stats system. In order to earn stats, four players from the same active Platoon must play together in the same round of Battlefield 4, and then your core stats will be either averaged or accumulated and applied to the Platoon. Best of all, you will earn score for your Platoon, so you can rank it up (initially, ranks 1-10 will be available, with more ranks to come). Other stats such as Kill/Death Ratio, Score per Minute, and Skill will also be shown for your Platoon. Discuss your Matches and Have Fun in the FeedThe core way to communicate within your Platoon is through the feed, which has both a public and a private section. In the public section, you can allow anyone to leave a message, whereas the private area is for members only. All messages can be commented on, leaders will be able to sticky messages to the top of the feed, and perhaps best of all, you can subscribe to messages, so that every time someone comments on it, you will receive a notification, so you can return to follow up. Rolling out on February 27We will begin to open up for Platoons on Battlelog on February 27, with some players getting access slightly before others in order to ensure proper feature stability. When it is launched during this week and next, everyone will be able to join a Platoon, but until March 13, Battlefield 4 Premium and a soldier with at least rank 10 will be required to create your own Platoon. The system is also completely platform agnostic, so anyone can join a Platoon no matter where they play Battlefield 4. It is important for us to clarify that this is the first iteration of Platoons. We will continue to work on the feature to refine and expand it, but now we will finally have the opportunity to see it in action and get some real-world feedback. Now is the time for all our players to tell us what they like, what they want improved, and what they want to see next. Don’t hesitate to tell us what you expect from the upcoming feature, and what can be improved once it’s live. We appreciate your questions and feedback! THIS OFFER IS BEING ISSUED TO YOU FOR PROMOTIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A CREDIT, CHARGE, DEBIT OR GIFT CARD. BATTLEFIELD 4 PLAYER APPRECIATION MONTH IS FROM FEBRUARY 1, 2014 THROUGH MARCH 06, 2014 (“PROMOTION PERIOD”). REQUIRES BATTLEFIELD 4 (“PRODUCT”) ON APPLICABLE PLATFORM AND INTERNET CONNECTION TO ACCESS IN-GAME CONTENT. PC VERSION OF PRODUCT ALSO REQUIRES ORIGIN ACCOUNT, ACCEPTANCE OF THE ORIGIN END USER AGREEMENT AND INSTALLATION OF THE ORIGIN CLIENT SOFTWARE (WWW.ORIGIN.COM/ABOUT). YOU MUST BE 13+ TO REGISTER. BRONZE OR SILVER BATTLEPACKS ARE OFFERED DAILY DURING THE PROMOTION PERIOD FROM 12PM GMT/4AM PST TO 11:59AM GMT/3:59 AM PST THE NEXT DAY AND ARE AUTOMATICALLY ENTITLED WHEN YOU LOG INTO PRODUCT DURING THE DAILY TIME PERIOD. SHORTCUT BUNDLES ARE OFFERED FOR A WEEK-LONG PERIOD AND REQUIRE DOWNLOAD FROM EITHER WWW.ORIGIN.COM (FOR PC) OR HTTP://MARKETPLACE.XBOX.COM/ AND HTTPS://STORE.SONYENTERTAINMENTNETWORK.COM (FOR APPLICABLE CONSOLE VERSIONS) DURING THAT WEEKLY PERIOD. EA ONLINE PRIVACY POLICY AND TERMS OF SERVICE ARE AVAILABLE AT WWW.EA.COM. SEE APPLICABLE END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT AND DISCLOSURES ON WWW.EA.COM/1/PRODUCT-EULAS. VALID WHEREVER BATTLEFIELD 4 IS OFFERED. MUST BE 13+. CODE MAY NOT BE SUBSTITUTED, EXCHANGED, SOLD OR REDEEMED FOR CASH OR OTHER GOODS OR SERVICES. MAY NOT BE COMBINED WITH ANY OTHER OFFER, GIFT CARD, REBATE OR DISCOUNT COUPON. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED, TAXED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. View the full article

Our “Ask DICE” series continues as we let audio director Bence Pajor answer your questions on sound design. Read on for behind-the-scenes intel on the process of making Battlefield 4 sound epic. Q: Thank you for a fun game and an awesome “sound image”. Is the sound team split up in smaller groups, one team focusing on vehicles and another on guns/ambient etc.? A: You’re welcome! The sound team is usually split up in small groups that handle specific parts of the soundscape, but we all touch pretty much everything during the full course of a project. Q: What is the most challenging thing to do from a sound perspective? A: The most challenging thing is to make all the parts fit together as one coherent experience. Q: How does DICE create weapon, vehicle and environment sound effects in the game? Do you use actual weapons and vehicles or create the FX via software? A: We make our own recordings of the real stuff. If you want to learn more about the work process behind the Battlefield 4 sound, check out this “The Road to Battlefield 4” post. Making sure the “hierarchy of sounds” is correct in the heat of battle is a crucial task for the DICE audio team. Q: Why do the DMR’s have such a drastic increase in their sound as compared to Battlefield 3? And would it be possible to turn down their sound? As is, they sound pretty annoying. By all means, do not make them sound like an assault rifle, but intermediate between the bolt action sniper rifles and an assault rifle. A: This has already been addressed, the bullet fly-by sound is now somewhere in between an assault rifle and a sniper rifle. This will be out in a patch soon. Q: What kind of equipment do you use for recording all the different sounds and what software is used for the finalizing? A: We use a wide array of recording devices, everything from handheld integrated recorders to professional recording gear and microphones. Q: Is there a chance that Battlefield will ever incorporate a HRTF-enhanced sound system? I have always enjoyed the sound in the Battlefield series, but a more powerful sense of spatial orientation through sound would be incredible, “wrapping up the package”, so to speak. A: We currently have a really rough version of HRTF in the headphones setting. There are currently no plans for a proper HRTF setting, but we are investigating better spatial awareness. Q: First, I LOVE the audio in Battlefield 4. The question I have is this: since Bad Company 2 there have been many complaints about your soldier saying something to interact with the game, and the players themselves not hearing it. An example is throwing a grenade and they yell “grenade”, or when someone is killed and someone across the map yells “friendly down”. Has it ever been considered to remove that option in the game, or allow the player to hear it so that they are aware of actually making noise? A: Glad that you love our work. We are looking into refining the design you mention for future games. The Battlefield 4 audio is not just there for your listening pleasure, it also gives information of the surroundings in-game. Listen carefully to up your game! Q: Have you ever talked about an idea of going deaf (or a “weeeeee” noise in your ears) for a few seconds when standing next to a tank that just fired a round? I understand this could be annoying for some people but it’s can also be a trade off from using a tank as a cover. A: Yes, we’ve discussed that and it actually works like that in Battlefield 3. In Battlefield 4 we just have different way of portraying going temporarily deaf. Q: Great work with the sound in-game, really atmospheric! But I have to ask, why were multi-character voice-overs dropped from the Battlefield series? Bad Company 2 had them as every class character had its own unique voice, and it worked wonderfully and sounded diverse. Also, why don’t you offer original localized voice-over in the options menu anymore? Battlefield 2 and Bad Company 2 allowed us to switch between English and original (Chinese/Arab/Russian) voice-overs. A: The player’s own voice is always the same (and has been for all Battlefield titles) but other characters voices are recorded with up to 15 different actors. They are not class/kit or rank specific as in Battlefield 2, Bad Company 1 and 2 as you point out. We made this decision because we wanted a wide variety of different voices. As for original languages, we chose to use English with an accent for game important messages as opposed to Battlefield 1942, Battlefield 2, and Battlefield: Bad Company that only had original languages. This way both sides are equal as far as understandability goes. Q: Can we have an increase in the sound of enemy players footsteps? Why should they be quieter than my team mates’ footsteps? A: All other players except yourself, friend or foe, have the same volume attenuation for their footsteps. We must maintain a hierarchy of loudness for different sounds, and since we depict such a vast range of loudness it’s quite natural that footsteps are a lot quieter than vehicles, guns and explosions. Q: I have to say, I’m a huge fan of how the LMGs sound in the game, they’re fantastic with the War Tapes audio setting enabled and a set of good monitor headphones. Is there a real difference in the approach to sound design for the War Tapes option, or is it just a different sort of equalisation between the different sounds? A: War Tapes is just a different master setting of the game, very compressed and distorted. From the start, it was made out of pure curiosity. The game sounded like something recorded with a handy-cam. We just thought it was cool. It’s a very extreme setting. Tons of various field recordings have been done to secure the sounds of the many vehicles and weapons in Battlefield 4. Q: Will you change it so that when someone pulls their knife out you can hear it come out of the holster, to give you a warning that someone is behind you? A: There’s always a sound when someone pulls a knife out. There’s just little time for you to react to it. Q: How does the game know that when you’re in a tunnel, the audio should echo, and that when you’re outside it should travel through the city? A: We manually tag every area of a map to tell the game what sounds to play there. So the sounds are not processed, we just use other sounds. Q: Are there any sounds in Battlefield 4 that the Battlefield community has yet to hear, i.e. easter egg audio? A: Well, maybe there is… We advice you to keep your ears open. Thank you for submitting your questions to us, and we hope you have enjoyed this post. Make sure to read all previous “Ask DICE” posts if you haven’t done so already, and stay tuned for more Q&A’s like this. View the full article

It is time for a new DICE Community Mission where we once again challenge the Battlefield 4 players to collectively achieve great deeds on the Battlefield. This time, we are putting your team play skills in Conquest and Domination to the test. We want you to participate in the capture of 100 million objectives in 5 days. This community mission is active between February 21, 7AM PST/4PM CET and February 26, 7AM PST/4PM CET. If the Community Mission is completed in time, all participating players across all formats will be rewarded with a Gold Battlepack (entitled to players’ Origin accounts on February 27). Note that the Capture the Flag game mode isn’t part of this mission. You will be able to track the progress of this mission on Battlelog under the “Missions” tab. The results will be presented here on the Battlefield Blog on February 26. Now, go get those control points! THIS OFFER IS BEING ISSUED TO YOU FOR PROMOTIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A CREDIT, CHARGE, DEBIT OR GIFT CARD. BATTLEFIELD 4 PLAYER APPRECIATION MONTH IS FROM FEBRUARY 1, 2014 THROUGH MARCH 06, 2014 (“PROMOTION PERIOD”). REQUIRES BATTLEFIELD 4 (“PRODUCT”) ON APPLICABLE PLATFORM AND INTERNET CONNECTION TO ACCESS IN-GAME CONTENT. PC VERSION OF PRODUCT ALSO REQUIRES ORIGIN ACCOUNT, ACCEPTANCE OF THE ORIGIN END USER AGREEMENT AND INSTALLATION OF THE ORIGIN CLIENT SOFTWARE (WWW.ORIGIN.COM/ABOUT). YOU MUST BE 13+ TO REGISTER. BRONZE OR SILVER BATTLEPACKS ARE OFFERED DAILY DURING THE PROMOTION PERIOD FROM 12PM GMT/4AM PST TO 11:59AM GMT/3:59 AM PST THE NEXT DAY AND ARE AUTOMATICALLY ENTITLED WHEN YOU LOG INTO PRODUCT DURING THE DAILY TIME PERIOD. SHORTCUT BUNDLES ARE OFFERED FOR A WEEK-LONG PERIOD AND REQUIRE DOWNLOAD FROM EITHER WWW.ORIGIN.COM (FOR PC) OR HTTP://MARKETPLACE.XBOX.COM/ AND HTTPS://STORE.SONYENTERTAINMENTNETWORK.COM (FOR APPLICABLE CONSOLE VERSIONS) DURING THAT WEEKLY PERIOD. EA ONLINE PRIVACY POLICY AND TERMS OF SERVICE ARE AVAILABLE AT WWW.EA.COM. SEE APPLICABLE END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT AND DISCLOSURES ON WWW.EA.COM/1/PRODUCT-EULAS. VALID WHEREVER BATTLEFIELD 4 IS OFFERED. MUST BE 13+. CODE MAY NOT BE SUBSTITUTED, EXCHANGED, SOLD OR REDEEMED FOR CASH OR OTHER GOODS OR SERVICES. MAY NOT BE COMBINED WITH ANY OTHER OFFER, GIFT CARD, REBATE OR DISCOUNT COUPON. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED, TAXED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. View the full article

Celebrating the Battlefield 4 Player Appreciation Month, EA DICE and J!NX are teaming up for the Battlefield 4 T-shirt Design Contest together with a sale on DICE-store.com. This is a chance to get your very own design featured on an official Battlefield 4 T-shirt and to win great prizes by being creative – as well as getting great deals on Battlefield 4 apparel. T-Shirt Design ContestTime to get creative! If you want to see your design on an official Battlefield 4 T-shirt at DICE-Store.com, enter the T-shirt design contest centered around the theme “Most Memorable Battlefield Moment”. If your design is selected, you can win one of three prize packs including $500 and some great prizes from J!NX, EA DICE, and Razer. Your shirt design will also be available for sale on DICE-Store.com. For official contest rules, hit the link below. T-Shirt Design Contest DICE Store SaleUntil February 28, you can find some great deals on DICE-Store.com where all Battlefield 4 apparel will be 20% off. Orders over $30 will get free domestic economy shipping (US only). Conditions and restrictions apply. See details at the link below. DICE Store Sale View the full article

The DICE Community Missions during the Player Appreciation Month have been great examples of cooperation in the Battlefield 4 community. The first Mission, where we challenged you to grab 10,000,000 dog tags in just six days, was a success. As a reward, all participating players across all formats will receive a Gold Battlepack entitled to their Origin account on February 20. We salute you. We would also like to applaud your efforts in the DICE Community Mission where we challenged you to destroy 50 million vehicles in six days. With an end result of 46 190 615 million land, air, and sea units blown to bits, you came extremely close to succeeding. It seems like the Battlefield is also full of drivers skilled at using counter-measures! Going forward, the third DICE Community Mission will start this Friday, February 21. We’re holding off with the details for that one just a little bit longer, but stay tuned to the Battlefield Blog for all the intel. This time we urge you all: Go for Gold! Learn more about the DICE Community Missions THIS OFFER IS BEING ISSUED TO YOU FOR PROMOTIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A CREDIT, CHARGE, DEBIT OR GIFT CARD. BATTLEFIELD 4 PLAYER APPRECIATION MONTH IS FROM FEBRUARY 1, 2014 THROUGH MARCH 06, 2014 (“PROMOTION PERIOD”). REQUIRES BATTLEFIELD 4 (“PRODUCT”) ON APPLICABLE PLATFORM AND INTERNET CONNECTION TO ACCESS IN-GAME CONTENT. PC VERSION OF PRODUCT ALSO REQUIRES ORIGIN ACCOUNT, ACCEPTANCE OF THE ORIGIN END USER AGREEMENT AND INSTALLATION OF THE ORIGIN CLIENT SOFTWARE (WWW.ORIGIN.COM/ABOUT). YOU MUST BE 13+ TO REGISTER. BRONZE OR SILVER BATTLEPACKS ARE OFFERED DAILY DURING THE PROMOTION PERIOD FROM 12PM GMT/4AM PST TO 11:59AM GMT/3:59 AM PST THE NEXT DAY AND ARE AUTOMATICALLY ENTITLED WHEN YOU LOG INTO PRODUCT DURING THE DAILY TIME PERIOD. SHORTCUT BUNDLES ARE OFFERED FOR A WEEK-LONG PERIOD AND REQUIRE DOWNLOAD FROM EITHER WWW.ORIGIN.COM (FOR PC) OR HTTP://MARKETPLACE.XBOX.COM/ AND HTTPS://STORE.SONYENTERTAINMENTNETWORK.COM (FOR APPLICABLE CONSOLE VERSIONS) DURING THAT WEEKLY PERIOD. EA ONLINE PRIVACY POLICY AND TERMS OF SERVICE ARE AVAILABLE AT WWW.EA.COM. SEE APPLICABLE END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT AND DISCLOSURES ON WWW.EA.COM/1/PRODUCT-EULAS. VALID WHEREVER BATTLEFIELD 4 IS OFFERED. MUST BE 13+. CODE MAY NOT BE SUBSTITUTED, EXCHANGED, SOLD OR REDEEMED FOR CASH OR OTHER GOODS OR SERVICES. MAY NOT BE COMBINED WITH ANY OTHER OFFER, GIFT CARD, REBATE OR DISCOUNT COUPON. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED, TAXED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. View the full article

One of the many giveaways during the Battlefield 4 Player Appreciation Month are the Shortcut Kits, voluntary bundles that will unlock various weapons for Battlefield 4 (the base game), allowing you to make up for lost time, or just catch up if you’re new to the game. The Shortcut Kits are now available for download at no cost for a limited time. Battlefield 4 Premium members will get access to two special Shortcut Kits, on top of two other Shortcut Kits accessible to all Battlefield 4 owners. See below for the handout schedule. February 18 to February 24 Shortcut Kit: Hand Guns Battlefield 4 Premium Shortcut Kit: DMR’s February 25 to March 4 Shortcut Kit: Grenades Battlefield 4 Premium Shortcut Kit: Shotguns How to claim your Shortcut KitsConsole Owner Go to the in-game Store. Either click on the Shortcut Kit banner or proceed to view “All Items” Find the Shortcut Kit priced at $0 Premium users will also see a second Shortcut Kit priced at $0 Download each item to be granted your Shortcut Kit(s). PC Owner Login to Battlelog Go to the “Store” section. Find the Shortcut Kit priced at $0. Click “Download”. Proceed through the Origin checkout flow to be granted your Shortcut Kit. PC Owner (Battlefield 4 Premium Member) Login to Battlelog. Look in the “News” section for info on the Shortcut Giveaway. Click on the “PREMIUM GIVEAWAY” button within the news story. A success message will display in green at the top of Battlelog if successful. You have now been granted the Shortcut Kit. Click here for full conditions and restrictions. THIS OFFER IS BEING ISSUED TO YOU FOR PROMOTIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A CREDIT, CHARGE, DEBIT OR GIFT CARD. BATTLEFIELD 4 PLAYER APPRECIATION MONTH IS FROM FEBRUARY 1, 2014 THROUGH MARCH 06, 2014 (“PROMOTION PERIOD”). REQUIRES BATTLEFIELD 4 (“PRODUCT”) ON APPLICABLE PLATFORM AND INTERNET CONNECTION TO ACCESS IN-GAME CONTENT. PC VERSION OF PRODUCT ALSO REQUIRES ORIGIN ACCOUNT, ACCEPTANCE OF THE ORIGIN END USER AGREEMENT AND INSTALLATION OF THE ORIGIN CLIENT SOFTWARE (WWW.ORIGIN.COM/ABOUT). YOU MUST BE 13+ TO REGISTER. BRONZE OR SILVER BATTLEPACKS ARE OFFERED DAILY DURING THE PROMOTION PERIOD FROM 12PM GMT/4AM PST TO 11:59AM GMT/3:59 AM PST THE NEXT DAY AND ARE AUTOMATICALLY ENTITLED WHEN YOU LOG INTO PRODUCT DURING THE DAILY TIME PERIOD. SHORTCUT BUNDLES ARE OFFERED FOR A WEEK-LONG PERIOD AND REQUIRE DOWNLOAD FROM EITHER WWW.ORIGIN.COM (FOR PC) OR HTTP://MARKETPLACE.XBOX.COM/ AND HTTPS://STORE.SONYENTERTAINMENTNETWORK.COM (FOR APPLICABLE CONSOLE VERSIONS) DURING THAT WEEKLY PERIOD. EA ONLINE PRIVACY POLICY AND TERMS OF SERVICE ARE AVAILABLE AT WWW.EA.COM. SEE APPLICABLE END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT AND DISCLOSURES ON WWW.EA.COM/1/PRODUCT-EULAS. VALID WHEREVER BATTLEFIELD 4 IS OFFERED. MUST BE 13+. CODE MAY NOT BE SUBSTITUTED, EXCHANGED, SOLD OR REDEEMED FOR CASH OR OTHER GOODS OR SERVICES. MAY NOT BE COMBINED WITH ANY OTHER OFFER, GIFT CARD, REBATE OR DISCOUNT COUPON. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED, TAXED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. View the full article

With Battlefield 4 Second Assault arriving on all platforms, you’ll be taking the battle to four classic Battlefield 3 maps, redesigned with the power of Frostbite 3. Operation Firestorm, Caspian Border, Gulf of Oman, and Operation Metro await you, more stunning and entertaining than ever. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9x0dE1WHFU Battlefield 4 Second Assault is rolling out today for Battlefield 4 Premium Members (arriving March 4 for everyone else) and the expansion features four fan-favorite maps from Battlefield 3, updated with breath-taking Frostbite 3 graphics and thrilling Battlefield 4 gameplay. Whether you are triggering the epic collapse of Caspian Border’s radio tower or adapting to battle when a sand storm hits Gulf of Oman, Battlefield 4 Second Assault will give both veterans and newcomers a new taste of timeless all-out war. You can also expect new weapons, and the return of a classic Battlefield vehicle. Thanks to the power of Frostbite 3 and a seasonal change, Caspian Border features a new look in several ways. Battlefield 4 Second Assault features: - 4 fan-favorite BF3 maps reimagined through Frostbite 3 - Redesigned levels with player-triggered Levolution moments - 5 weapons re-mastered for Battlefield 4 - Dune Buggy (DPV) vehicle makes its return to the Battlefield - Capture the Flag game mode - 10 new assignments with their own unlocks - Available to Battlefield 4 Premium members 2 weeks early Battlefield 3 fans may recognize the DPV (Desert Patrol Vehicle), making its return in Battlefield 4 Second Assault. With all these features and the updated visuals, Battlefield 4 Second Assault pushes the fan-favorites to their limits, and it is our hope you truly will enjoy the expansion. See you on the Battlefield, and make sure to share your experiences from Battlefield 4 Second Assault in the comments below. Become a Battlefield 4 Premium member to get a head start with Battlefield 4 Second Assault. View the full article

Our “Ask DICE” series continues as we let level artist Linnea Harrison answer questions on level design, sent in by the Battlefield 4 community. Read on for behind-the-scenes intel on the process of creating memorable maps for Battlefield 4. Q: Can you explain the whole process of map design from start? First you must have an idea of location… and then? How do you test the gameplay of a new level design? A: After the main setting of a game is decided, everyone at DICE sends in their awesome ideas for locations and interesting gameplay hooks. We had hundreds of ideas submitted for levels in Battlefield 4. The level designer/artists then starts blocking in some spaces for the level based on neat locations near the reference. The larger spaces (bases) are shifted around, reworked, reworked, and reworked until they are as fun as possible. We also have destruction in at this point, so that when we are playtesting the game, we do so with destruction in mind. Then we go about making the level look awesome. Set dressing the level, adding really good lighting and effects, and polishing often takes a while but it is well worth the effort. Usually a lot of our testing is done here at the studio by our team. We take an hour or two each day to sit down and playtest levels and give feedback. This helps us get suggestions and ideas from everyone in the studio, rather than being stuck with just our own ideas. Q: Will you be introducing any night maps or night variations? These maps don’t need to be pitch dark but I think a number of players would like to see a setting where IRNV and FLIR scopes, along with flares, would be useful to blind enemies better. A: Good question! In general, we tend to think that night maps look pretty darn cool. You can implement some really neat lighting effects and encourage use of gadgets that generally aren’t used as much, with some really fun results. But there are a few things we considered with creating night maps. Statistically speaking, most people don’t play night maps – maps set during the day get played more. We know this from tracking the numbers of maps played through on Battlefield 3 and Bad Company 2. Even if the map is really well-designed, players tend to gravitate more towards day-time maps. Furthermore, players that crouch, take cover and wait forever to shoot someone running by in most maps gets even more common on night maps, where it’s tough to differentiate between objects and people. This has proved to be quite annoying in playtests. It’s possible to balance this – better heat vision, better spotting and so on – but for Battlefield 4 we focused on day-time maps. Future nighttime maps are absolutely something we’re always considering, though. The iconic Paracel Storm map went through several changes before being finalized. Q: How do you design a map to work well with multiple game modes and what are your biggest challenges when doing so? A: Given that Battlefield is a vast game with many vehicles and open areas, we first try to make sure that the level is overall balanced for Conquest (this means working on symmetry in terms of base location, perfecting infantry routes and cover, vehicle routes, main routes, flank routes, and visibility). Conquest is our most basic game mode, and designing levels with that in mind tends to create a fairly balanced map. The greatest challenge is to determine what sort of balance we want in the maps. We aim to have awesome infantry, vehicle, air, and naval gameplay on all maps, but some game modes will be more popular on certain maps. Take Operation Locker for example, where we wanted to focus on infantry combat and Rush. We decided to make that map more linear in nature to allow for better Rush gameplay. With that in mind, we created side routes and flanks for each base, and made sure the distances allowed for a variety of weapons used (outdoor versus indoor distances are very different), but would focus on shorter range combat. Q: Why didn’t you include a random weather and Time of Day system in Battlefield 4? Making it randomly generated, wind, sun, storm, dust, and dawn would really increase the replay value of the game. A: Even though each Battlefield game is unscripted in many ways, we wanted the experience to still have an emotional impact and match the adrenaline arc of a normal gameplay round. That way, as more buildings get destroyed, the tickets count down and the gameplay gets more tense, so does the level. Operation Locker was designed with infantry combat in mind and had a more linear layout than all other Battlefield 4 maps. Q: I was wondering if it is possible to add maps that take full advantage of the Rush game mode more? I feel the maps at the moment seem to suffer in this mode because of all the other game types. A: Rush is a game mode that is really fun to play on many of the Battlefield 4 maps, and it’s also one of our favorite game modes in the Multiplayer team. However, our maps are generally built for Conquest, as this is a game mode that is played by the majority (around 70%) of our players. This means that we always need to make sure that the map is 100% awesome in Conquest first-hand, but that being said, we also work hard to make Rush a good option on every map. Q: How many people are involved in the creation of a map? How long does it take to complete a map like Paracel Storm? Do you use greyboxing to playtest the level before its fully ‘painted’? A: It depends on the map – some maps only take 2-3 people to create. Others take around 8-10 people, like Siege of Shanghai. Paracel Storm took a whopping 6 months to complete – but that was partly because it also got redone a few times before being finalized. That being said, some maps are created in just under 2 months. And yes, we often do greybox when we start playtesting, just to make sure the larger spaces and shapes will work. Q: Say I wanted to get a job at DICE as a level designer, what sort of requirements would I need? A: Usually we look more at skills than requirements. If you want to design levels, you should have a website/portfolio that shows some levels you have designed. Grab a copy of UDK or Unity and start making levels and playing them with friends. Read about level design and game design. Learn about game theory and hardware specifications. Try doing a map remake on one of your favorite Battlefield maps – how would you change the layout? Do a sketch or top down design. Ideas are great, but if you can explain them and back them up with an understanding of why the idea is a good one, that is even more impressive! Then it’s just a matter of applying (we actually have a position open for a level designer in Los Angeles right now, so get to it!) Thank you for reading and submitting your questions to us. Stay tuned for more Q&A’s with our developers, and remember to read the previous editions of “Ask DICE” if you haven’t done so already. View the full article

Revisit Fan-Favorite Battlefield 3 Maps or Infiltrate Naval Bases in the South China Sea with Upcoming Battlefield 4 Expansion Packs. In a week, you’ll take a step back in time with Battlefield 4 Second Assault, featuring four fan-favorite maps from Battlefield 3 – Operation Metro, Caspian Border, Gulf of Oman, and Operation Firestorm. Reimagined with Frostbite 3 graphics and Battlefield 4 gameplay, Battlefield 4 Second Assault will be released on February 18 for Battlefield 4 Premium members on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC, and for all Battlefield 4 players two weeks later on March 4. Following Battlefield 4 Second Assault will be the third expansion pack, Battlefield 4 Naval Strike, launching in late March for Battlefield 4 Premium members. Stay tuned for the exact date and find all expansion pack information on Battlefield.com. In this expansion, you’ll experience intense water-based combat as the Chinese armada takes the fight to the sea. You’ll have access to new weapons, gadgets, and amphibious vehicles, and four all-new maps – Lost Island, Nansha Strike, Wave Breaker, and Operation Mortar. Learn more about Battlefield 4 Second Assault And don’t forget, every day you log into the game in February, you’ll get a free Battlepack as part of Battlefield 4 Player Appreciation Month. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9x0dE1WHFU View the full article

The first DICE Community Mission where you managed to grab over 10 million dog tags was a success. Now we have a new challenge for the Battlefield 4 community, where you’d better bring out the big guns. We want you to collectively destroy 50 million vehicles in six days. This community mission is active between February 13, 7AM PST/4PM CET and February 19, 7AM PST/4PM CET. If the objective is completed in time, all participating players across all formats will be rewarded with a Gold Battlepack entitled to their Origin account on February 27. So, jump in a game and get busy. You will be able to track the progress of this mission on Battlelog under the “Missions” tab. The results will be presented here on the Battlefield Blog on February 19. Good luck! THIS OFFER IS BEING ISSUED TO YOU FOR PROMOTIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A CREDIT, CHARGE, DEBIT OR GIFT CARD. BATTLEFIELD 4 PLAYER APPRECIATION MONTH IS FROM FEBRUARY 1, 2014 THROUGH MARCH 06, 2014 (“PROMOTION PERIOD”). REQUIRES BATTLEFIELD 4 (“PRODUCT”) ON APPLICABLE PLATFORM AND INTERNET CONNECTION TO ACCESS IN-GAME CONTENT. PC VERSION OF PRODUCT ALSO REQUIRES ORIGIN ACCOUNT, ACCEPTANCE OF THE ORIGIN END USER AGREEMENT AND INSTALLATION OF THE ORIGIN CLIENT SOFTWARE (WWW.ORIGIN.COM/ABOUT). YOU MUST BE 13+ TO REGISTER. BRONZE OR SILVER BATTLEPACKS ARE OFFERED DAILY DURING THE PROMOTION PERIOD FROM 12PM GMT/4AM PST TO 11:59AM GMT/3:59 AM PST THE NEXT DAY AND ARE AUTOMATICALLY ENTITLED WHEN YOU LOG INTO PRODUCT DURING THE DAILY TIME PERIOD. SHORTCUT BUNDLES ARE OFFERED FOR A WEEK-LONG PERIOD AND REQUIRE DOWNLOAD FROM EITHER WWW.ORIGIN.COM (FOR PC) OR HTTP://MARKETPLACE.XBOX.COM/ AND HTTPS://STORE.SONYENTERTAINMENTNETWORK.COM (FOR APPLICABLE CONSOLE VERSIONS) DURING THAT WEEKLY PERIOD. EA ONLINE PRIVACY POLICY AND TERMS OF SERVICE ARE AVAILABLE AT WWW.EA.COM. SEE APPLICABLE END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT AND DISCLOSURES ON WWW.EA.COM/1/PRODUCT-EULAS. VALID WHEREVER BATTLEFIELD 4 IS OFFERED. MUST BE 13+. CODE MAY NOT BE SUBSTITUTED, EXCHANGED, SOLD OR REDEEMED FOR CASH OR OTHER GOODS OR SERVICES. MAY NOT BE COMBINED WITH ANY OTHER OFFER, GIFT CARD, REBATE OR DISCOUNT COUPON. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED, TAXED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. View the full article

The first DICE Community Mission is now over and we can happily declare it a success! We challenged you to collectively grab 10,000,000 dog tags over the course of six days, and on the fifth day you reached the magic number. All in all, you managed to grab 11,462,858 dog tags using melee attacks. We are all officially impressed. Your reward for this will be a Gold Battlepack, which will be handed out on February 20. As Player Appreciation Month continues, stay tuned for more DICE community missions coming soon. View the full article