Battlefield Hardline has seemingly been named as the new instalment in the FPS series, after fans spotted assets and a logo on EA's Battlelog server.
The assets are assigned to last and new-gen console platforms and PC.
Earlier this year a report suggested that the next Battlefield project, code-named Havana, will arrive in the form of a police-themed shooter in 2014.
According to Polygon, the new game is in development at Dead Space studio Visceral Games.
Questions were first raised over how EA was going to annualise its FPS properties in January 2013, when it was announced that the company would withdraw investment in its Medal of Honor titles.
In August 2013, then-EA Games label boss Frank Gibeau said the new vision for EA shooters was based on three franchises:
"The shooter rotation we think about now is Battlefield, Titanfall and Battlefront, and so we like those three brands going forward. We're working out how we're going to line that up because that's what you'll see from us," he said at the time.
At the same time, a representative for Sweden studio DICE, the creator and custodian of the Battlefield series, insisted that the outfit "can't build a Battlefield game at DICE every year".
It is possible that DICE will now focus efforts on the Battlefield 5 project, planned for release in late 2015, while Visceral develops the spin-off, though such plans have not yet been announced.
Behind the scenes, Visceral has been gradually hiring key developers with expertise in first-person shooters. In September, a Halo 4 lead designer joined the outfit, and in February 2012 the studio hiredGuerrilla co-founder Arjan Brussee.
CVG reported in May that the studio was openly hiring for a next-gen shooter. Very recently, however, the studio claimed it was working on a "new IP".
Seems like a legit leak. Tons of info on Gaf: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=825964
