DICE: Annualising Battlefield would “kill the franchise”

Battlefield series producer Patrick Bach has said that turning Battlefield into a yearly series akin to Call of Duty would effectively kill off the series.

"The business goals for us are not to release a game every year," Bach told Gamerzines.

"If we were to release another big Battlefield title next year, that would mean that we'd have less than a year to build it, and that would mean that we'd have to have another studio building it for us, which would mean it wouldn't have that DICE seal of approval, which would mean they'd just have to release a copy of the game we just released.

"EA would never force us to release a game every year. I think that would dilute the vision of the franchise, and you will eventually kill the franchise by doing that."

When asked if it could rotate development of the series with another developer involved alongside DICE, Bach said it was possible "in theory," but added "that would be the day." However, he did admit that it could move towards releasing expansions akin to BFBC2: Vietnam instead of releasing new titles in the series.

"What we noticed with Battlefield: Bad Company 2 was that if you spend enough time on making an expansion pack like Vietnam there's enough content to make it feel new and fresh. It's not only a map pack, it's weapons and vehicles, and it makes the game feel fresh again," he said.

"I think that's a more healthy way of expanding on the game experience. It's not a new game but a twist on your old game, and I think that's a healthier way of looking at a franchise rather than just trying to cram every single last penny out of it.:

Battlefield 3 launches in October for PS3, 360 and PC. Enter our competition to go to DICE to play the game later this month here.