Battlefield Hardline delayed into ‘early 2015’

Electronic Arts has announced that Battlefield Hardline has been delayed from its original October release, and pushed back to "early 2015."

I'm not really surprised by this as delays are basically shaping this new console generation, but before you all go freaking out, there's a few good things to come of this. First, you can now breathe a little easier knowing your wallet won't totally be stretched thin this holiday season. Second, when Battlefield Hardline does launch, it'll hopefully be a much smoother gameplay experience than what we saw with Battlefield 4.

In addition to the changes that Visceral Games has already been implementing as a result of the recent beta, the feedback provided by players has allowed DICE and Visceral "to start thinking about other possibilities and ways we could push Hardline innovation further and make the game event better," according to DICE VP and Group GM Karl Magnus Troedsson.

"The more we thought about these ideas, the more we knew we had to get them into the game you will all be playing. However, there was only one problem. We would need more time. Time that we didn’t have if we decided to move forward with launching in just a couple of months," he explained.

As a result, Visceral will now have some added time to focus on multiplayer innovation, the single player story and, of course, stability — the latter of the three being something that plagued Battlefield 4.

Troedsson said Visceral will be adding some new feature ideas from the community that will "evolve the cops and criminals fantasy to a truly unique Battlefield multiplayer experience." Additionally, the developer will spend more time polishing core features, as well as adding a few new ones that will "support a deeper 'crime revenge' story experience." And lastly, the additional time will allow Visceral and DICE to ensure a stable gameplay experience.

"This has been a focus for our team since day one and we’re going to be using the extra time to continue to optimize the game for a stable launch," Troedsson assured. "We have learned a lot from Battlefield 4, are continuing to learn from our Community Test Environment and will learn more from another Hardline beta. More time allows us to surface issues that the team can attempt to fix prior to launch."

"We are doing all of this for one reason. Because we want Battlefield Hardline to be the best game it can be, and so that we can create the best environment for a smooth launch for our players," he concluded.

On the bright side, you should be able to keep track of all the latest Hardline changes through the "Community's Most Wanted List."

[Battlefield Blog]