Ex-Dice Employee: “Don’t Buy Battlefield Hardline at Launch!”

It’s not uncommon for ex-employees to voice opinions about their previous employer and the projects they are working on. Via an As Me Anything (AMA) on Reddit this week, we were able to hear what ex-Dice designer Tim Kjell had to say about the Battlefield franchise. His opinion: don’t buy Battlefield Hardline at launch.

EA’s struggles with Battlefield launches are well documented. Both Battlefield 3 and 4 had significant launch issues, mostly related to server problems. In light of those terrible launches, Kjell said he advised people not to buy Battlefield 4 at launch, and gives the same advice for Hardline.

His logic actually makes sense. As games get larger, EA is having problems keeping up. Kjell questions the amount of content the developers feels needs to be in the game. His example relates to guns and how the opinion seems to be, “The more guns the better.” His thoughts? Less guns makes designing the game easier, and allows resources to be used elsewhere. Choose the best, scrap the rest.

Kjell’s opinion on why consumers shouldn’t buy Hardline on day one make perfect sense. Don’t reward EA for promises they have yet to deliver on. If they don’t deliver 100%, it wouldn’t be the first time. Save your hard earned money, Kjell advises. If the game deliver, than reward them and pick it up. But as a Day 1 purchase? No chance, at least not for Kjell.

I’m not sure Kjell is telling us things we don’t already know. EA has burned me more times than I can count, and I’ll never buy a game on launch day from them again. A full breakdown of more of Tim’s comments can be found via the Official Xbox Magazine Website.

Here is the link to all the Reddit conversation: http://www.reddit.com/user/stormonster?count=26&before=t1_ckuyclv