• Posted August 3rd, 2011 at 17:24 EDT by Mike Harradence
• 9 Comments

DICE has revealed it has no intention of annualising the Battlefield franchise, saying that doing so would potentially kill off the brand.

Speaking to Gamerzines, Patrick Bach, series producer on Battlefield, said that rolling out a new game in the military shooter every year would result in reduced development time, meaning they’d have to get another studio on board to facilitate the process.

“The business goals for us are not to release a game every year,” said Bach.

“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.”

Quizzed if DICE would consider rotating yearly instalments with another developer ala Call of Duty, Bach said it’s possible “in theory,” though quickly added, “that would be the day.” He did, however, concede that the firm could shift gears towards releasing expansion packs rather than all-new titles.

“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 explained.

“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 is due out on PlayStation 3, PC and Xbox 360 in October 2011.