As we close in on 15 years since the release of Battlefield 1943, and Bad Company 1 & 2, we are announcing that their journey is coming to an end. Starting April 28 2023, Battlefield 1943, and Battlefield: Bad Company 1 & 2 will be removed from digital storefronts and you will no longer be able to purchase them.

This is in preparation for the retirement of the online services for these titles which will happen on December 8 2023. For Bad Company 1 and 2, you can still continue playing them and use their respective offline features, such as the single player campaign. You can also read our FAQ and Service Updates for further information on the retirement of online services.

Update 14:17 UTC: EA updated their press release this morning, to clarify that the inclusion of Mirror's Edge was an error. They stated via Twitter: "We currently have no plans to remove Mirror's Edge from digital storefronts."

EA late last week confirmed that the studio is working on the next chapter in the "Battlefield" franchise, unsurprisingly titled "Battlefield VI." What remains to be seen is the production design, whether EA DICE sticks to its formula of making the next Battlefield a AAA set-piece and technology demonstrator, much like how BFV was among the first games with real-time raytracing, although the mandate from EA CEO appears to favor a "truly next-gen" approach. Pressure from EA's bean-counters will also ride heavy on DICE to make at least one of the components of the game to be e-sports optimized, and feature a battle royale multiplayer mode. We predict the implementation could be similar to the current Call of Duty, which features a nested "Warzone" mode in addition to a AAA campaign experience. EA DICE is targeting a Holiday 2021 tentative release for "Battlefield VI."Update 08:17 UTC: Apparently the image above is fan-art. EA did not reveal any details about the premise of the game.

EA via its EA play event has teased next-gen graphics and gameplay from upcoming titles on its publishing label. The games showcase work in progress for next-generation games that seem to be set in three well-known franchises, with Motive, who has just recently developed Star Wars Squadron in conjunction with Lucasfilm, seemingly presenting the only new IP.

From Criterion, a new Need for Speed game is teased, with particular emphasis being put on both detail level on cars and reflections, as well as the absence of any loading times granted by next-gen hardware. Bioware's showcase seems like a tease for Dragon Age 4 - there is a distinct fantasy look to the video, and I believe I've seen those red colors in previous entries' red lyrium crystals. DICE, of course, showcased a new Battlefield game, which exceptional fidelity on character models, and what seems like truly epic battles with hundreds of soldiers on-screen at the same time. Lastly, Motive seems to be developing a physics-based game where environment interactivity is key. Models used seem like a mash-up between fantasy, sci-fi and modern-day, so it's difficult to pen exactly what we're looking at. Catch the video teaser after the break.

The 2020 DICE (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Awards offered their Game of the Year title to "Untitled Goose Game", developed by Indie Studio House House. That game also took home the "Outstanding Achievement for an independent Game" award, as well as Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design.

The awards were also good for Control, the paranormal-esque game developed by renowned Remedy Entertainment. The game was victor in four different categories: Action Game of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction, Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction, and Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition. Disco Elysium, the quasi-combatless story-based RPG from ZA/UM Studios that was 2019's biggest achievement (for this writer at least) won the Outstanding Achievement in Story award. Look after the break for the full list of categories, nominees, and winners.

In a case of "Oops, we didn't mean to", DICE's update notes for Battlefield V came out at least a day before they were supposed to. While DICE quickly took to social media to mention these update notes were not necessarily final, everyone was quick to notice that the PC-specific improvements section listed NVIDIA DLSS support being added on February 25. We were able to take a look at DLSS in action on Battlefield V at the NVIDIA suite during CES 2019, and it made a vast difference in overall performance and graphics alike, especially since we could now turn on NVIDIA RTX and not get a massive decrease in average framerate.

Jaqub Ajmal, a producer at DICE for the game soon tweeted to clarify that the company is still working on this implementation, and does not actually have a set date yet. It may well be that the actual update notes that go out tomorrow (still Feb 11 in North America at the time of posting) may well have something else instead. Regardless of whether this happens Feb 25 or not, we here at TechPowerUp will take a closer look at DLSS and in-game effects, so be on the lookout for that. In the meantime, let us know your thoughts on DLSS coming to game titles and your expectations for the future.

A few weeks ago we learned that Battlefield V would have a battle royale mode called "Firestorm". PUBG and Fornite have made this game mode so popular that several games have tried to take advantage of this feature, and the latest title from EA and DICE won't be an exception. The problem is, that option won't be available at launch, and users will have to wait until March 2019 to enjoy this game feature. The roadmap for additional content has shown how Battlefield V will evolve in the next few months.

This gaming mode has been developed by Criterion Games in partnership with DICE, and 64 players in 16 squads will fight to be the last infantry squad. Before being able to play that mode users will be able to access other DLC such as "The Last Tiger" War Story, "Panzerstorm" (a new tank-focused map) and a new Practice Range mode. Between January and March we will see new content and co-operative modes such as "Combined Arms", and after that "Firestorm" and its Battle Royale mechanics will arrive. General availability for Battlefield V will start on November 20th.

Two days before Battlefield V's open beta kicks off,including on PC via EA's Origin, DICE released a new informative video that finally provides more details about the game than what we knew from the time it was announced. In particular, the video confirms that Battlefield V will retain a single-player mode, unlike Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 which is also slated for a Q4 2018 release. This single-player mode will carry on the War Stories aspect we saw with Battlefield 1, with four stories planned for launch date and another slated to be made available later on.

The main highlight from the video, and something that should not surprise anyone, is a new battle royal mode called Firestorm that involves 16 teams of four players each for a total of 64 players per map session, playing to be the last team standing on what is claimed to be the largest Battlefield map ever created. This map is, in their own words, "a sandbox filled with destructible buildings, weaponry, and vehicles" and should interest gamers who like the battle royal concept but wanted something other than the PUBG and Fortnite (although you will note that many features are borrowed from these games as well). More details, along with the video itself, past the break.

At NVIDIA's event at Koln, Germany, NVIDIA's Mark Smith took the lid of some of NVIDIA's game developing partners that are working on breinging RTX's improvements to gamers' systems. The presentation started with Christian Holmquist and Jonas Gammelholm, both with DICE, going through the graphical improvements enabled on Battlefield V through the usage of RTX.

Reflections of tank's muzzle flashes in character's eyes, reflected flames and smoke in water bodies, perfect ray tracing on reflective surfaces even with off-screen sources of lighting, static cube maps are replaced with actual transparent, reflective surfaces... And these effects are relevant even in gameplay; these aren't some screenshot-only, squinting-effort effects. You can immerse yourself in them even in the fast-paced combat of Battlefield V.

EA-DICE released the first reveal trailer of "Battlefield V." The reveal shows a slice of what appears to be actual in-game footage. The game re-imagines events of WWII, after the series' excursion with WWI. It portrays a pitched battle somewhere in Europe with British troops fighting Nazis. There's also the depiction of female soldiers, hinting at the possibility of strong female characters, or even a female protagonist (as opposed to second-fiddle female NPCs in the likes of Battlefield 4 campaign). There are no technical details of the game, but it appears to leverage DirectX 12 API with even more features than Battlefield 1. Battlefield V is slated for release on October 19, 2018. It's open to pre-orders on Origin.The official trailer follows after the break

A mysterious webpage has surfaced on EA's website with new details on the upcoming Battlefield V title. The teaser comes in form of a simple blue background with the date May 23, 2018 written across the middle accompanied by the Battlefield hashtag. The URL also carries the "never be the same" catchphrase. Earlier today, DICE design director Alan Kertz tweeted on his Twitter account that a game he's been working on will be revealed on the 23rd of this month. It's safe to bet that this game is Battlefield V. But, what do we know about the it so far? Although not confirmed yet, Battlefield V's setting will probably be the Second World War. It will have a single-player campaign and various multiplayer modes. It's also possible that EA might jump on the battle royale bandwagon.

If there's something that Battlefield 1 and Call of Duty: WWII have taught us, it's that nostalgia sells - and it sells a lot. The numbers don't lie. Battlefield 1 not only sold faster than Battlefield 4, but it also broke the 25 million players barrier not so long ago. Call of Duty: WWII didn't do too shabby either becoming the best-selling Call of Duty installment since Black Ops II. The ultimate goal for EA now is to keep the traction going and that's where Battlefield V comes in. Battlefield V, originally known internally as Battlefield 2, is the direct sequel to Battlefield 1, and as thus, the game's setting and story will take place in World War II. Hardcore Battlefield fans might recall that EA previously visited the World War II era in Battlefield 1942. However, the publisher has promised that Battlefield V won't a mere remaster but a completely new game from the ground up.

For better or worse, EA and loot boxes always seem to find themselves together in the same sentence. Anonymous sources have confirmed that Battlefield V will have loot boxes However, the loot boxes are limited to cosmetic items to customize your soldier just like in Battlefield 1 - so no worries there. EA has promised a playable "next Battlefield experience" this year at the E3 event in June. Battlefield V is expected to launch later this year.

We went into Star Wars Battlefront II with a goal to make the deepest, biggest Star Wars game you've ever played. That meant transporting you to all three eras and handing you a huge assortment of heroes, classes, and vehicles - as well as bringing tons of free post-launch content to all Star Wars Battlefront II players.

The Beta gave us a welcome chance to test all of our systems in action and tune things up for better balance. A few weeks back, we mentioned we were going to take another look at how the progression system works. After incorporating feedback from the Beta, we're happy to share our plans for launch.

EA DICE is practically tearing apart Battlefield 3 as we know it, and rebuilding it with a huge list of updates, including tweaks in the gameplay mechanics, and its background application itself. The list covers weapon mechanics changes, vehicle mechanics changes, and changes to the way damage is meted out. The patch can be likened to a similar Battlefield 2 patch that radically changed the game, including its resources. Be sure to use auto-scroll with the next part.

Just like any good design implementing security by obscurity, hackers and cheaters will find a way to exploit the system in no time flat. In this instance, DICE said via Twitter that cheaters have "found a glitch that allows them to use the Engineer repair tool or the EOD Bot to garner tens of thousands of points in a match." A beautiful and satisfying cheat if ever there was one, really letting you get on the wrong side of your fellow player! However, there's this small problem, since developer DICE has now cottoned on to underhand tactics and is banning these sporting gamers en-masse. Isn't retribution wonderful?

Via Twitter, DICE reported, "This week we've banned hundreds of offending accounts and have stats-wiped accounts for exploiting (such as boosting)..." and they also ask for honest gamer's help in nailing the culprits, "To report players cheating or boosting send us a direct message to this Twitter with a screen shot of the Battle Log Report." There is also a problem with the Sony PS3 version of the game, which will be addressed with a patch, soon. This suggests that the bug is in the core program code, rather than a platform-specific implementation. Finally, one should always strive to behave honestly and ethically in life and it looks like in this instance it really pays off. Here's wishing all honest players an enjoyable time playing BF3, free from cheaters.

DICE's PC version has been leaked to various torrent sites almost two weeks before release on October 28th, with console versions being safe for now, DSOGaming reports. This is perhaps unsurprising because most, if not all high profile games are leaked early one way or another. It looks like it might have possibly been done by a retailer - but why would they risk reducing sales of the product like this? Perhaps a disgruntled employee? We can only speculate. Apparently, the single player campaign is fully playable and the file size weighs in at around 10GB.

The one thing that seems to hold true about such situations, as undesirable as they are, is that a game's success will be on its own merit, regardless of how much it has been downloaded illegally. No doubt though, however large the profits from this game turn out to be (and they're likely to be substantial for this triple A title) the publishers will complain that they would have been even bigger without piracy, but without being able to offer any actual proof of this, of course.

Mirror's Edge received good reviews when it was released and has been quite popular with gamers who unsurprisingly, want a sequel. This is especially important in the case of Mirror's Edge, as this game is single player only, so it's not something a gamer can come back to time after time. However, a sequel has never really been on the cards for Electronic Arts, since it didn't sell as well as they had thought it should have and rejected a prototype ME2. Now, developer DICE have been busy with other projects such as upcoming blockbuster Battlefield 3, but good news could be on the horizon, since Electronic Arts are adamant that Mirror's Edge is an important brand for their portfolio. SPOnG recently interviewed Patrick Liu from DICE and asked him if he thought that the games market would be receptive to Mirror's Edge 2. He answered:

Yeah, definitely. I think it's something that people are ready to get into again. We see that there's a huge fan following, it's almost like a cult! And we know what strengths we had, and what weaknesses we had in that game. If we were to release a new game, we'd know what to improve and how to reach a broader audience. So I definitely think there's a market there.

Good news then for Mirror's Edge cult members, err, fans, keep holding your breath!