Fresh on the heals of Valve's announcement that Steam will be heading to the Mac, there is news that DICE is considering making the same jump for Battlefield: Bad Company 2. That's right, DICE is considering releasing a Mac version of Bad Company 2. In a new Twitter post and in an interview with UGBD, DICE's executive producer Karl Magnus Troedsson has confirmed that EA is considering releasing a new Mac version of Bad Company 2.
In fact, the release of Steam for Mac in April might be a driving force behind the considerations. DICE has released several games to the Steam library, including most recently Bad Company 2. With Steam's new push to appeal to Mac users, it would open up a brand new market to EA and the Battlefield franchise - including the upcoming Battlefield 3.
Although nothing has been confirmed by EA, we will keep you posted as more news is confirmed.
"EA DICE's executive producer Karl Magnus Troedsson, made mention of the announcement on his Twitter account today stating, "Steam for Mac - Gabe, we like it." The Universal Gaming Database questioned Mr.Trodsson about the possibility of future Battlefield games coming to Mac via the new Steam client, Mr.Trodsson stated "We're currently investigating the possibility of making BFBC2 available on Mac."
According to new UK sales charts released this week from Chart-Track, Xbox 360 has officially accounted for the most of Bad Company 2's sales, making up 53%. The PlayStation 3 was the second biggest, with 31 percent coming on that platform, while the PC contributed 16 percent.
On top of being on top of the sales chart for the week, the game has now officially become the fastest selling game in the UK in 2010 - outselling the original Bad Company title by a ratio of 3:1.
"Battlefield: Bad Company 2 explodes into the All Formats Chart at No1 this week, honouring EA with the accolade of being the fastest selling game of the year so far.
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 has an excellent performance, outselling the launch week of the original Bad Company by almost 3 to 1. It also records the best ever launch for any game released this early in the year. 53% of sales went to the Xbox 360 version with 31% for PS3 and 16% for PC, topping each individual chart. Last week’s No1 Heavy Rain slips to No4 with sales down 69% and with Aliens Vs Predator (-61%) falling one place to No3, Just Dance (-15%) finds itself back at No2. Sales of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (+28%) speed up in their second week, propelling it from No8 to No5, ahead of Wii Fit Plus (-5%), which drops 2 places to No6. The usual suspects fill the remaining positions in the Top 10 with Modern Warfare 2 (-11%) and Wii Sports Resort (-15%) both down 2 places to No’s 7 and 8 respectively."
With a higher than expected influx of PC players, DICE and EA have been strained to keep the Bad Company infrastructure up and running. As a result, again today the network experienced heavy downtime, which EA has apparently resolved according to a new status update.
The Status Update also states that the servers will be brought down tomorrow night at 12:00 (midnight) PST for maintenance - hopefully to resolve the issues once and for all. We will keep you posted as more updates are released.
"As you probably noticed, we have experienced an outage across EA servers today, this was caused by a routing issue outside of EA's control but it has been solved and things are back up and running again.
Tomorrow at 8:00 GMT/9:00 CET and 12:00 (midnight) PST the EA servers will be brought down for maintenance. There is no current time for when the servers will return so keep an eye on our Twitter for more up to date information as we get it.
On a more positive note, we have released the R6 server to server providers today which should stop the PB INIT FAILURE messages that have been causing problems recently, as well as releasing new server versions, we are still investigating and fixing connectivity and stability problems that are being reported."
In its first week, Bad Company 2 has dominated the UK Sales topping the charts and outselling the original Bad Company nearly 3-1. You can check out the chart's top 10 games below, and for the full weekly sales breakdown, visit the ESLPA Website.
"For the week of March 6th, Bad Company 2 has debuted on top of the UK sales chart.
Entertainment Software(All Prices)
1. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 2. Just Dance 3. Alien vs Predator 4. Heavy Rain 5. Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing 6. Wii Fit Plus 7. Modern Warfare 2 8. Wii Sports Resort 9. Fifa 10 10. New Super Mario Bros. Wii"
Playstation 3 players will be happy to know that a Bad Company 2 update has been unveiled and could be released as early as today. The patch will fix a continuing glitch which has prevented PS3 players from accessing the VIP downloadable content released with the game. Unfortunately, a patch for PC playersis still in development, with no release date currently announced.
"An update to Battlefield Bad Company 2 on PlayStation 3 is currently with Sony America and will, hopefully go live later today after we get Sony approval. When this happens PlayStation 3 owners will get access to the BFBC2 in game store and have access to their VIP content. Sony Europe will follow shortly after and will, all being well with Sony, allow European players to access the store and their VIP content early this week.
The access to the in game store will start things off by giving VIP members access to the Rush map, Nelson Bay and the Conquest map, Laguna Alta.
While the Xbox 360 and PC aren't getting a client update today we will of course be watching them at DICE and EA, making sure the servers keep running and let you game as much Battlefield time as possible.
We have been discussing a few issues on the official forums and provided some temporary solutions for PC gamers problems while we work on a more permanent solution for them at DICE. You can find the discussions about PB INIT errors and faster browsing tips at http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/battlefield-bad-company-2-pc/"
If you are looking for a digital download of Bad Company 2, The Limited Edition is available via Steam for $49.99. For more information or to pick up your copy, head on over to the Steam Store.
"Battlefield: Bad Company 2â„¢ brings the award-winning Battlefield gameplay to the forefront of PC gaming with best-in-class vehicular combat and unexpected "Battlefield moments." New vehicles like the ATV and a transport helicopter allow for all-new multiplayer tactics on the Battlefield. With the Frostbite-enabled Destruction 2.0 system, you can take down entire buildings and create your own fire points by blasting holes through cover. You can also compete in four-player teams in two squad-only game modes, fighting together to unlock exclusive awards and achievements. Battles are set across expansive maps, each with a different tactical focus. The game also sees the return of the B Company squad in a more mature single-player campaign."
Gameaustra recently got to sit down with Bad Company 2 senior producer, Patrick Bach about the philosophy behind the game and the Battlefield series. Definitely worth the read if you are looking to see what goes through the minds of game developers and producers in creating titles such as Bad Company 2.
"How long as your development cycle been?
Patrick Bach: We actually started right after, or actually a couple months before, we ended Bad Company 1. It's been 18 or 19 months.
And how big is the team?
PB: The team has of course been scaling up and down depending on where we are, but I think we peaked at 70 or 75. One of our big focuses in the studio is to have the team as small as possible at all times.
You get more focused, you get better traction, and you have high quality if you have the right people. We talk about ownership a lot -- owning the quality in the end.
Coming onto this right from Bad Company 1, did it feel like a direct continuation? Were there big things in particular you wanted to change or retain, based on lessons learned during that project?
PB: [When] building a Battlefield game, we have a lot of history. Since Battlefield 1942, we've kind of known what the formula is and what the strengths are, but when we went out to consoles, the audience changes. You know, the PC audience is much more forgiving in some ways, but they're much more demanding in other ways. "
DICE has posted an update to the current status of the Bad Company 2 server system across all platforms, and it appears everything is backup and running as usual. The system had been experiencing some technical troubles with higher then expected player loads.
"After optimizations and restarts yesterday, we had been stable across all platforms. Unfortunately, we encountered another outage at approximately 9:30 AM PST today.
- X360 was severely impacted, and the service is being restarted. It should be back online and we are monitoring closely. - PC had an outage, but the service is offline currently and the service is being restarted. It should be back online and we are monitoring closely. We will then start checking the quality of the customer experience to determine possible next steps. - PS3 appeared to have a brief outage, but has quickly recovered and the services is functioning properly at this time.
All teams are actively engaged in diagnosis and remediation. We are adding additional services to alleviate load. Despite having a major infrastructure in place, the peak traffic this weekend has been huge, 400% higher than any other Battlefield's peak simultaneous users. The teams will continue to monitor the services closely. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and will provide further updates on the latest developments as they are relevant. "
Its official, Bad Company 2 has now been released and is available and all major retailers! Already picked up your copy? Be sure to head on over to our forums and Share Your Impressions of the game.
In honor of the release, EA has also unveiled some new screenshots.
Apparently a few retailers found it tough to stick to the release date for Bad Company 2, accidentally shipping the game to some pre-order customers a full week before the official release date of March 2nd. The mistake occurred in both Europe and in the US.
Neither of the posts revealed where the games were leaked from and no official word from EA on the matter, but hey, might as well go check your mailbox if you think you might be one of the luck ones.
Gamestop has announced which locations will be open at midnight for the release of Bad Company 2. To see which locations will be open near you, checkout the Gamestop's Store Finder tool.
"Gamestop, the world’s largest video game and entertainment software retailer, today announced it is hosting midnight launch events for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 on Monday, March 1, at more than 1,300 stores nationwide. Event-goers will get the chance to test their combat skills with a tank building challenge, commando dress up contest and soldier skill challenge.
Most participating GameStop locations will open at 10 p.m. local time; however, customers are asked to contact their local store to confirm the exact time of the event. Events may vary by location.
Along with the midnight events, GameStop is hosting two different tournaments to rally the troops into action. The GameStop Battlefield Bracket Challenge pits 16 celebrity-captained teams in a bracket-style tournament. Consumers can visit www.gamestop.com/battlefieldbc2 to fill out brackets between now and March 4 and be eligible to win cash and gift cards. In addition, the GameStop “Battle of the Baddest” tournament features a ladder-up online competition capped by a 64-team playoff that gives participants the chance to win cash and prizes.
Pre-order Battlefield: Bad Company 2 now from GameStop and receive instant access to the AKS-74 assault rifle for multiplayer action. In addition, reserve the game and receive a code for exclusive 30-day early access starting March 2 to the new multiplayer game mode, Squad Rush.
For an event near you, visit a local GameStop store or http://www.gamestop.com/battlefieldbc2. "
DICE has announced that there will be brand new downloadable content for Bad Company 2 on March 2nd, when the game launches in North America, and in the UK on March 5th. The content will feature two brand new multiplayer maps: Laguna Alta map playable in Conquest mode and Nelson Bay map playable in Rush mode, bringing the total number of multiplayer maps up to 10.
In order to unlock the content, players will need to enter the "VIP code", which is included in the box when the game is purchased (making it essentially free). If for some reason you do not have a code, players can purchase one via via the in-game store for $15.
You can check out a preview of the maps below, in a DLC Trailer released today.
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