DICE has announced that it has cancelled the PC version of Battlefield 1943 and Onslaught mode for the PC version of Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

The studio has said that all available resources are being put into Battlefield 3 instead.

“There comes a time when we as a studio have to choose where to best put our efforts,” said DICE general manager Karl Troedsson on the official Battlefield Blog. “In my day to day work, I look at our release schedule and the studio’s capacity, weighing them against our wild ambitions to create awesomeness. I often need to make hard calls regarding where we put the studio’s focus.”

 

DICE has confirmed that Battlefield: Bad Company 2 for PC will receive the Onslaught gameplay mode currently available on console versions of the game.

Bad Company 2 senior producer Patrick Bach told PC Gamer magazine, “We’re thrilled to bring something new and fresh to Battlefield: Bad Company 2 while still keeping Battlefield’s signature gameplay intact. We want to consistently support the over four million fans playing the game with new ways to get into multiplayer and also challenge the elite players with new experiences to improve their performance online.

“Effective squad play is the key to success in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 multiplayer and this new mode will provide players with a dedicated environment to test their team skills and rank against the competition,” he said.

 

DICE have missed the launch window for a long overdue and extensive (500MB) patch for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 on PC. The delay has been due to crashes on some maps.

While there’s no new content added, the patch addresses a wide-ranging list of gameplay, server and client fixes, and some balancing tweaks.

A full changelog follows:

 

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit

EA’s media briefing at the historic Orpheum Theatre in downtown Los Angeles kicked off with the announcement of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. Dated for November 16th, the Criterion-developed title hopes to simultaneously bring the series back to its roots and pave the way for adoption by the so-called “connected generation.”

In it, players compete online, chasing one another as either the police or as renegade mavericks driving outrageously expensive cars. Criterion highlighted Hot Pursuit’s Autolog – a suite of features “to connect, compare and compete.”

 

DICE studio today announced the first multiplayer expansion pack for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 where gamers will find themselves in an entirely new theatre of war – Vietnam.

Fighting as either U.S. Marines or North Vietnamese Army (NVA), the combat terrain of the Vietnamese jungle will be rendered via the Frostbite engine.

The Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam digital expansion pack will provide the multiplayer Battlefield: Bad Company 2 experience with new weapons, vehicles, unlocks, awards, achievements and trophies.

 

DICE has announced that a new four-player co-op mode, called Onslaught, will soon be available for console players of Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

Onslaught mode is currently not in development for PC. “We aren't ruling out Onslaught on PC, but at this time we are researching how to bring it to PC without affecting players who don't have Onslaught or their own server to run it on," said an associate producer at DICE. “We haven't given up on a PC version of Onslaught... just we have a lot things to work out first.”

There will initially be four maps available to play in Onslaught mode: Valparaiso, Atacama Desert, Isla Innocentes and Nelson Bay. They’ve all received slight makeovers such as new lighting and vehicles.

 

DICE has announced that a console version (and more) of last month’s PC patch for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is due on May 12th.

In addition to the PC changes, the console update will include:

• Slightly increased the damage of the UZI at long range.
• The AKs74u now has more felt recoil when aiming.
• The G3, VSS, and all SemiAutomatic rifles now settle slightly faster between shots when aiming.
• The PKM, Type 88LMG, G3, An94, and 40mm shotgun have returned to their former glory.
• Increased the damage of the MG3 to bring it in line with the rest of the LMGs.
• Fixed a bug where the Saiga12 with slugs would do too much damage at long range.
• Fixed a bug where the SVU would do too little damage at long range.
• Fixed a bug where M95 rounds would not kill armored targets with headshots.

 

EA and DICE have announced that the second map pack for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is now live for PC.

The two maps are alternate game mode versions of existing battlefields:

“Arica Harbor Conquest Mode: Take to the streets and put your infantry skills to the test! Capture strategic town positions as Arica Harbor is enhanced with Conquest Mode.”