The big Battlefield news going around today is a quote by EA's Chief operating officer John Pleasants basically confirming the development of Battlefield 3; something the Battlefield community has been hoping for all along.

Criterion Games working on a Need For Speed game wasn't the only surprising bit of news that Electronic Arts chief operating office John Pleasants tucked into his presentation at the William Blair Growth Stock Conference I listened to today. Pleasants confirmed he's seen DICE's work on Battlefield 3.

"I've had the luxury of looking at Battlefield 3 over at DICE in Sweden and was highly impressed by the way the team is working on that product," he said. "Of course, that's not [coming out] in the fiscal year, but that is a product that is looking very good."Gamers worried that Battlefield: Bad Company, Battlefield Heroes and Battlefield 1943 were a three-pronged answer to fans demanding a third Battlefield don't have to worry. Battlefield 3 is coming!

We have also gotten information from a tipster that Battlefield 3 will be similar to Battlefield 2 and will support up to 40 players per team. There will also be 24 different vehicles that you can choose from and 17 different weapons. Like Battlefield 2, the game will also feature unlockable equipment.

So when will Battlefield 3 be released? The time isn't known but EA says not this year. We also heard that it would be the holiday season in 2010, however like with many of the other Battle field installments we'll probably get an early one map beta that can be played free a few months before. We're speculating that we'll see a Battlefield 3 Beta download in the Summer of 2010. However, nobody knows for sure.

http://outpostgamez.com/news/278/battlefield-3-announced/

I still play some Battlefield 2 with my father and brother on occasion. It is a decent game.

Not to take this off-topic, but damnit! Why does every developer have to make a fucking Need for Speed game at EA? Give me another Burnout or Road Rash! Don't take Criterion away to make silly Need for Speed games when there are already numerous teams working on them.

Also COD doesn't need to beware of anything. Maybe Warhawk does, but not COD.

bf2 was a great game. Got it with my pizza :D. I might get this on pc

BC2 will kick the shit out of MW2 (Maybe not in sales)

But BF3 is great news!

Why should this threaten CoD? The battlefield series has always been better. CoD will always sell more though

@Onyxmeth: EA are doing what Activision are with CoD, NFS development is being alternated each year between teams. You never know, Criterion may make the best NFS ever and you'll end up loving EA for it.

Hell yeah! I'm a big fan of the battlefield series. I think it will release in Q1 2011

I'm just curious to see what innovations they will throw in this game. Glad that the release date is nowhere in sight - gives me time to upgrade my PC which will undoubtedly be necessary.

One wish though, I hope we now get to fight in WW1. I always prefered BF1942 over 2 mostly because a skilled heli-pilot/co-pilot coop could dominate the the entire game (hovering abilities, flares, heavy weaponry) and jets made flying to easy without any real way of countering. I always felt that the propellor planes required more skill, made dogfighting more fun with just machine guns and without tracer-bombs required trickier manouvres to hit ground units. I don't need too much realism in my battlefield games.

It's not the same at all. Infinity Ward is the creator of Call of Duty. It's their baby, they are considered to be the more proficient developer, and Treyarch mainly fills in the gaps. Treyarch is also able to sustain multiple projects. In this case, EA is asking the more proficient developer (Criterion) to drop their own series and projects to work on the series of what's considered by most to be a lesser developer. That's not to mention there is already three other NFS teams working on unique NFS products for EA. Do we really need a fourth?

Understand that this would mean no more Burnout, no Road Rash, no new IPs. Criterion can only make so many games. They're not a big studio. If they alternate NFS, that's it for them. That's what they do now. I know for sure Criterion will make the best NFS of all time in their first shot, because that's how great they are. However, they would put more love and effort into their own projects that interest them as opposed to the project EA sticks on them. So regardless of it's quality, I'm not going to love EA for it. I have no interest in pidgeonholing Criterion to fit their great ideas into another team's vision.