Home Gaming DICE isn’t sure why Battlefield: Bad Company is so popular

DICE isn’t sure why Battlefield: Bad Company is so popular

3 min read
46

Baaaaad Company till the day I die

Battlefield 5? Yawn, give me a sequel to Battlefield Bad Company 2 instead! This year’s big announcement from EA was for Battlefield: Hardline, a game that so far only Gavin and myself are actually keen on playing. But we’re both in agreement that a new Bad Company game is needed right now. And DICE is also aware of that fan demand. They just can’t figure out why though.

Bad Company (3)

“We hear those comments as well and see them,” DICE boss Karl-Magnus Troedsson told Eurogamer. “There were some people who were saying, ‘why are you building Hardline? You should build Bad Company 3 instead.'” And DICE is more than willing to make a new Bad Company game. The thing is, they’ve got no idea what made the original two games so popular in the first place.

We take all this into account when we think about the future, and do franchise strategy. But there’s one thing that lingers with Bad Company that we’ve been asking ourselves: what is it that the people really liked about Bad Company?

The first Battlefield: Bad Company game was released way back in the medieval age of 2008 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, with a sequel arriving in 2010. Both games were successful in a financial and critical sense, thanks to a strong single and multiplayer offering. Since 2010 however? Preston, Sarge, Haggard and Sweetwater have been rather silent.

Bad Company (2)

And as Troedsson mentioned, that radio silence is all due to DICE wanting to discover what made the original games so popular. “Some people say they found the multiplayer controls faster and more direct,” Troedsson explained.

Some people liked the single-player and the characters and the humour. People love different things about it. It’s starting to almost get to that place where, if we were to make a sequel to Bad Company, what would than even imply?

It’s scary to go back and try to remake an old fan favourite when actually no-one can really put their finger on what it is people love. Bringing back the characters and creating a great single-player out of that, sure, I can understand that.

But some people say this: the Bad Company 2 multiplayer is the best you’ve ever done. Okay, why is that? It’s hard for people to articulate what that is, which is actually hard for us. It would be hard to remake something like that. Can we do it? Of course. We have our theories when it comes to the multiplayer.

The Bad Company sub brand is something we hold very near and dear. We’ll take that into account when we think about the future. It’s never dead. You can always revive it, as with any TV series, movie or IP. It’s going to come down to, if people really want it and if a team inside my group really wants to build it, then sure.

I can easily explain why I found Bad Company and its sequel to be so enjoyable. It was a solid game, with a great (If clichéd) cast of soldiers. Coupled with some fantastic visual technology and some truly magnificent audio, the game was a fantastic alternative to Call of Duty, thanks to some savvy release timing that took advantage of an emptier month, instead of being released during the October/November glut.

Last Updated: June 25, 2014

46 Comments

  1. Not sure myself. I much prefer games where my squadmates are not immortals. Just a personal preference.

    Anyway, ‘scuse me using this as a forum, but I need input from SA gamers. I want to get some games on Steam sale, but have never used their services (for purchases online). What has been the experience of others using Steam with credit card or whatever? Any warnings? Advice? Endorsements? Thanks in advance…

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief Cyber Commando

      June 25, 2014 at 11:11

      Steam’s credit card facility has never failed me, and I’ve spent thousands there. Not one single issue, ever.

      I can wholeheartedly recommend them

      Reply

      • Martin

        June 25, 2014 at 11:13

        Good to hear thanks. And what about buying as a gift for others? Also works well?

        Reply

        • Admiral Chief Cyber Commando

          June 25, 2014 at 11:14

          Very well yes. Also keep a lookout on GMG and GOG for Steam specials, Humblebundle is also great

          Reply

          • Martin

            June 25, 2014 at 11:17

            I’m stuck in old school hard-copy original mode, so this is a big transition for me! I am already on the Lazygamer Steam group…but not very active. Do you get further discounts? Or just notifications?

          • Admiral Chief Cyber Commando

            June 25, 2014 at 11:19

            Just notifications, and sometimes we have a community game session, that is, when Zoe remembers to organize one

          • Martin

            June 25, 2014 at 11:21

            Thanks for the advice. I have my eyes on FTL and a couple of other under $5 deals.

          • Admiral Chief Cyber Commando

            June 25, 2014 at 11:22

            Dude, get FTL NOW!!!!

            What else are you looking at?

          • Martin

            June 25, 2014 at 11:25

            Can’t remember them all off hand. Wanted to get Fallout 3 & NV as gifts for someone. Nether caught my eye. Wasteland 2, but it’s seriously expensive and in Beta. Maybe a DLC for Civ 5 if they are cheap…Eish…can’t remember the rest.

          • Admiral Chief Cyber Commando

            June 25, 2014 at 11:27

            Don’t bother with Nether, had a chat with someone last night (who is technically savvy, so NOT stupid) and he battled for quite a few hours getting it to run.

            Wait for the flash sales and daily sales though, most value there

          • Martin

            June 25, 2014 at 11:29

            Thanks for the warning. I hope to exercise some self control as I proceed…the games backlog is already too great.

          • loftie

            June 25, 2014 at 11:31

            ya, be careful with greenlit games in alpha…

          • Admiral Chief Cyber Commando

            June 25, 2014 at 11:33

            True dat

          • SlasherZA

            June 25, 2014 at 14:20

            When outlast is on sale – GET IT…. Seriously 🙂

      • loftie

        June 25, 2014 at 11:30

        same, STEAM IS BOSS of my wallet

        Reply

    • Admiral Chief Cyber Commando

      June 25, 2014 at 11:13

      Warning: WAIT for the glorious 75% of more discounts! You will thank yourself later.

      Advice: Join the Lazygamer Steam group

      Warning: Beware of Trevor, he likes to cuddle

      Advice: Play Planetside 2!

      Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      June 25, 2014 at 11:33

      I’ve never had a problem with Steam payments using my card.

      One thing to remember is that depending on what games you’re looking at you’re going to have some pretty big downloads before you can play, so having uncapped is a big help. Eg. Max Payne 3 was around 30gb compared to something like Papers Please was 41mb hehe.

      Also, while the sales are great, if you pre-order games it’s still worth your while to shop around for physical copies because you can often get them cheaper that way locally.

      Reply

      • Martin

        June 25, 2014 at 12:12

        Thanks – will try it out. And use up my night-surfer cap.

        Reply

  2. Admiral Chief Cyber Commando

    June 25, 2014 at 11:10

    HURR DURR HOW DO WE MAKE GOOD GAMES HURR DURR

    Maybe finish them first?

    Reply

    • CAE9872

      June 25, 2014 at 11:17

      Man I laughed so hard when I read this!

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief Cyber Commando

        June 25, 2014 at 11:19

        I too smiled while typing this

        Reply

  3. Hammersteyn

    June 25, 2014 at 11:12

    BECAUSE THE SP WAS ENTERTAINING AND FUN TO PLAY YOU STUPID ASSHOLES!

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief Cyber Commando

      June 25, 2014 at 11:13

      How would a stupid asshole act? Just poop everywhere and not when its supposed to….wait, I see what you did there…

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        June 25, 2014 at 11:21

        Seriously though, Bad Company was funny as hell. Then the SP went all Nolan and became dark and serious.

        Reply

    • CAE9872

      June 25, 2014 at 11:17

      Now you see that’s what I was going to write as I read the article. You would think that was self-explanatory to them??? Guess not.

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        June 25, 2014 at 11:22

        The trailer was what hooked me, back then

        Reply

        • CAE9872

          June 25, 2014 at 11:24

          Was playing this a few months back – must go back and play more. I loved the tank on the golf course!

          Reply

  4. Alien Emperor Trevor

    June 25, 2014 at 11:24

    So to summarise… you don’t know what’s good about the game you made & released? What does that even mean? Is this some kind of esoteric riddle? O_o

    Reply

  5. Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

    June 25, 2014 at 11:28

    Ahem… Because the SP WAS FUN NUMBNUTS!!!!

    Serioulsy. There was an ACTUAL story line that made one feel involved.

    Yes, controls and stuff assisted in making it feel all more polished and rounded off. The fact is there was time put in to it FOR GAMERS instead of FOR THE MONEY.

    It was a game that made us feel like gamers!

    It’s not hard to figure out. Sheesh.

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      June 25, 2014 at 11:30

      Agreed

      Reply

    • Admiral Chief Cyber Commando

      June 25, 2014 at 11:31

      You need to translate that into marketingspeeeek for the numbnutters

      Reply

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        June 25, 2014 at 11:34

        I’ll give it a shot. Okay here goes… *deep breath* “Well Rince…”

        RUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

        Reply

        • Admiral Chief Cyber Commando

          June 25, 2014 at 11:35

          hahaha

          Reply

        • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

          June 25, 2014 at 12:10

          hehehehehhe

          Reply

  6. Craig Lotter

    June 25, 2014 at 11:36

    I thoroughly enjoyed the Bad Company line and I am by no means a first person shooter fan. The destructible environments, the humour, the characters, the story – it just all worked for me!

    Reply

  7. brad coetzee

    June 25, 2014 at 11:41

    I love Bad Company dearly. Seriously, I flippin treasure those disks. The gameplay is top notch like all Battlefield games but what really set it apart and made it special was the characters and their humour. They are just highly entertaining games. It really is time for a sequel, number 2 ended with one of the coolest ending sequences and then a cliff hanger.

    Reply

  8. Peet Luckhoff

    June 25, 2014 at 11:49

    It is very easy…Badcompany 2 came out when everyone wasn’t sick of Battlefield already…that is why.

    And back then there wasn’t a BF coming out every 2 months. So it had replay value. I haven’t actually played some of the BF4 maps and already there is a new one coming out.

    Reply

  9. Nahuel Graziani

    June 25, 2014 at 11:55

    Truckasaurus Rex.

    Reply

  10. oVg FX

    June 25, 2014 at 12:11

    Battlefield sniper future warfare fighter elite bad company of duty Special BLACK ops killzone super dooooper future warfare modern division MAP PACK

    All looks like the same shit to me. ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz……

    PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW

    YAWN… Videogames… so so boring and will never change no matter what gen.

    Reply

    • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

      June 25, 2014 at 12:13

      You said warfare twice

      Reply

      • oVg FX

        June 25, 2014 at 12:16

        different canon.

        Reply

    • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

      June 25, 2014 at 12:14

      also you said future twice

      Reply

      • oVg FX

        June 25, 2014 at 12:17

        Its a prequel to the sequel. Staring Kevin Spacey because voice acting is the only thing left to save the run and gun FPS.

        Reply

        • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

          June 25, 2014 at 12:28

          lol

          Reply

  11. derp

    June 25, 2014 at 12:52

    It is very simple to me:
    If you look at footage from any Battlefield multiplayer game, you will not see something that looks like a professional fighting force.

    What you will instead see is a bunch of idiots with guns and military equipment running around semi-randomly attempting to complete an objective.

    Which is exactly what Bad Company is…

    Reply

  12. Jarrod Lane

    June 25, 2014 at 14:20

    So the SP seems to be bedded down. Good story you feel a part of, with humour to go with it.
    The MP is where it was really at though. Think the humour bled over from the SP, Everything was over the top, buildings could all be turned to dust, none of this partial stuff with are getting currently in BF. One guy with a tank could pretty much take out any building with a few shots. Controls seemed tighter. Less unlocks to chase down. Vehicles were very arcade in controls, so even a complete nub could fly a chopper without taking out a complete squad. Hmm must put more thought into what else gave me soo much joy. I’m also pretty sure the vehicles had built in radios with some chunes to flip through 🙂

    Reply

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