Tue, Oct 04, 2011 | 15:03 BST

Battlefield 3 beta simultaneous players up 600% over BC2

DICE has announced that six times the number of simultaneous players are participating in the Battlefield 3 beta compared to Bad Company 2.

DICE said today that more than six times the number of users are playing the Battlefield 3 beta simultaneously than were seen for the Bad Company 2 test last year.

The Bad Company 2 beta attracted 2 million participants in January 2010.

According to a post from studio GM Karl Magnus Troedsson over on Battleblog, the amount of players diddling about in the beta makes it “doubly important to test everything.”

“The biggest reason for running the Open Beta is to stress test our servers and back end,” he said. “Already, we are seeing six times the number of simultaneous players in the Battlefield 3 Open Beta compared to the Beta for Battlefield: Bad Company 2. The fact that Battlefield 3 is clearly our biggest game launch ever by a magnitude of six makes it doubly important to test everything.”

No specific number of simultaneous players was given.

Troedsson added: “We are constantly updating the News section on Battlelog with information on what we are fixing from Open Beta to final. We appreciate your time and your feedback. The data and feedback from the Open Beta will not only directly affect the final game of Battlefield 3, but its future development and support.”

Troedsson also said the beta is based on software which is over a month old, and not representative of the final game.

“The Battlefield 3 Open Beta is based on software that is more than one month old,” he said. “We need to test the new back end dedicated server structure we’ve built. Not only have we built a new game engine, but an entirely new back end system so that everyone can enjoy the benefits of dedicated servers on all platforms.

“Just like normal procedure when releasing a game, the Open Beta has had long lead times due to testing, certification, and setting up. This means that the code you are now playing is actually quite early and not representative of the final game.

“We had to do this in order to have as many people testing as possible, in order to ensure a top quality experience when the game is released. However, we’re confident in the Battlefield formula and confident that our fans will support us in order to make Battlefield 3 better.”

Over the weekend, DICE made a list of changes to expect when the game ships later this month. Look it over through the link.

21 comment-trail-alt Posted in: EA, PC, PS3, Shooter, Xbox 360
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21 comments

#1

OrbitMonkey
04/10/11, 2:07 pm

10 million people killing time till November ;)

#2

manamana
04/10/11, 2:09 pm

” This means that the code you are now playing is actually quite early and not representative of the final game.”

Do you have more information regarding from when the built is, Stephany?

#3

LOLshock94
04/10/11, 2:10 pm

@1 sad thing is that its true

#4

Strife91
04/10/11, 2:11 pm

BC2 had a closed beta and the beta was only on PS3.

#5

ManuOtaku
04/10/11, 2:13 pm

#2 the post indicates the following “Troedsson also said the beta is based on software which is over a month old, and not representative of the final game”.

#6

J.L
04/10/11, 2:16 pm

Quibble: Troedsson’s talking about six times the amount of *simultaneous* players as compared to the BC2 beta, rather than total number of downloads (the 2m to 2.5m on 360 & PS3 from the BC2 story), or total players. So not 12m, sorry.

#7

freedoms_stain
04/10/11, 2:19 pm

@4, That’s false, there was a beta on 360 too, it was Port Valdez Rush.

#8

G1GAHURTZ
04/10/11, 2:20 pm

“Already, we are seeing six times the number of simultaneous players in the Battlefield 3 Open Beta compared to the Beta for Battlefield: Bad Company 2.”

Errrrm…

Steph, this doesn’t mean that 12m people took part in the beta.

It means that if there were 50,000 people playing the BC2 beta at the same time, then there are 300,000 playing the BF3 beta at the same time (simultaneously).

I seriously doubt that even DICE would try and claim that 12m people were all playing this beta online at the exact same time…

#9

Fin
04/10/11, 2:21 pm

@6

Ur, that’s not a quibble, that’s a massive flaw in the article.
Fix it Steph!

Also, the “not representative of final quality” is something all demos and betas have, it doesn’t really mean anything (but in this case, I hope the final quality really is better than the beta).

#10

Yoshi
04/10/11, 2:33 pm

@4 & 7. Your both misinformed, it was on all main platforms. Xbox 360, PS3 and PC

#11

Stephany Nunneley
04/10/11, 2:36 pm

All – There. Fuck me.

#12

Erthazus
04/10/11, 2:46 pm

I’m so ready for this game. I’m not sure that i will bother this time with Modern Warfare 3.

I will probably check it out in January when there won’t be a lot of games. But holy damn, i played the shit out of the beta. Enjoyed a lot.

It’s a huge game with great engine and great sound system.

#13

Fin
04/10/11, 2:51 pm

Ur, not to be nit picking, but it’s not 12 million simultaneously, it’s six times the simultaneous number for BC2.

If it was 12 million simultaneously, it’d be around four times the peak concurrency of Black Ops.

#14

J.L
04/10/11, 2:53 pm

Cheers Steph!

edit – What F1n said. How about ‘Battlefield 3 beta boasts six times more than BC2′? Delete para 1 about comparative numbers and all is well.

It feels a bit like this article about the Beta is itself in beta ;)

#15

Patrick Garratt
04/10/11, 3:02 pm

Done.

#16

Stephany Nunneley
04/10/11, 3:17 pm

@All – Yeah everyone poke fun at the American airhead because I sure as hell am :D . It’s finally figured out. From here on out I will stay away from anything involving math. I am not pretty enough to get away with it :p

#17

manamana
04/10/11, 3:25 pm

…more than one month old, should be august then. Maybe Juli. With the crunchtime DICE employees are facing this month, it will shape up nicely. After the inevitable day1 patch. Can‘t wait.

#18

endgame
04/10/11, 3:40 pm

stop reiterating idiots! every retard already knew that the code was at least a month old. it’s common sense. ffs at least try to wizen up a little bit instead of just growing up brainless.

#19

manamana
04/10/11, 4:07 pm

err, is that aimed at me?

#20

strikkebil
04/10/11, 6:14 pm

there was a closed beta on PS3. it had the Arica Harbour map. i know cos i was in it. and the demo with port valdez, which came on all platforms later, was a demo. im guessing they mean that demo here.

#21

AHA-Lambda
04/10/11, 10:30 pm

Isn’t 6 times more a 500% percent increase? =/

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