In the early morning hours of July 14, a pre-order promo on Origin (the Electronic Arts digital-distribution service) for the new first-person shooter from developer Danger Close apparently revealed the existence of Battlefield 4. A banner ad read: “Medal of Honor Warfighter – Pre-order today for exclusive Battlefield 4 beta access.” That bonus no longer appears anywhere on the Origin service.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":490988,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"games,","session":"D"}']Battlefield 4 has not yet been confirmed by developer DICE or publisher EA. During a speech at the University of California in November 2011, Electronic Arts president Frank Gibeau said, “There is going to be a Battlefield 4.” After that keynote, EA backpedaled, claiming that Gibeau was speaking “broadly,” and that the company had nothing to confirm.
Well, someone at Origin seems to think that Battlefield 4 is coming.
This type of pre-order promotion is in keeping with the marketing EA employed for Battlefield 3. The publisher granted early access to the Battlefield 3 beta to players who bought the Medal of Honor: Tier 1 edition.
According to the copy on this Origin offer, only customers that pre-order Medal of Honor Warfighter will get into the BF4 beta.
EA knows where it’s first-person bread is buttered.
[Update: EA announced the Battlefield 4 deal formally on July 17]