Battlefield 1 release: Game puts users at the centre of World War I

While the game officially releases on PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on October 21, with some players having had early access a few days prior, the opening salvo of the release was an open beta, held for a week from August 31 and giving any gamer who wished a chance to play an early version of the game’s multiplayer element.

Lars Gustavsson is the game’s design director and said the open beta was “first and foremost a tremendous testament to the enormous input the community has had on the creation of Battlefield 1”, adding the open beta had been a huge success.

“We broke all records for game demos and the community really rallied their forces and provided us with an endless stream of love and suggestions for improvements,” he said.

“I believe that we all feel honoured to have such a dedicated fan base out there and we will make sure that we do everything we can to continue this open dialogue for the lifetime of this game.

“The community that has been with us all through these years (since the first Battlefield game in 2002), and maybe even more than ever on this project, where the constant stream of feedback has helped us shape an experience that wouldn’t have been the same without them. For that we will be forever grateful.”

Mr Gustavsson said the biggest surprise from the beta had been the number of players that took part in it and “the overall joy and love that they sent our way”.

“We have felt great anticipation and good vibes ever since YouTube exploded after the reveal but the open beta surpassed our hopes and expectations by far,” he said.

Several changes were made to the game as a result of the open beta, including changing the Conquest mode to not only take flag ownership into account but also taking player lives into the score count.

“We went into the open beta with a “cleaner” design where only flags mattered but the community were clear in their message and we listened,” Mr Gustavsson said.

Numerous other tweaks included balancing the scoring and ranking-up progression, as well as adding information for class rank progression so people would know whether to spend their saved-up War Bonds (in-game currency) on a weapon, gadget or vehicle pattern, or save it for something which would come with the next level.

“We moved some gadgets around to further define the different classes so the Support soldier gained the repair tool and the limpet mine to cater for a vehicle supportive and tank hunting role,” Mr Gustavsson said.

“Beyond this we’ve done tons of tweaking and tuning to better balance the game for an even greater experience; a good example is tuning down the overpowered Light Tank.”

The decision to set the game during WWI had proven to be the right one, he said, explaining the opportunity to dig deeper into an era that was new and unexplored for so many of the team, and learn more about how those few years in many ways changed the world into what we see today had proven especially rewarding.

“To have this as a base for the development of a Battlefield title has been both challenging and extremely exciting,” he said.

“I think the most amazing moment was the reveal event in May where a long well-kept secret exploded into an enormous buzz within the community and media, and how the trailer hit unbelievable numbers on YouTube. That gave all of us an extreme energy boost to push hard the last bit to finish in style.

“I am extremely proud of how the team has taken the concept of a Battlefield game set in the Great War to their hearts and created a true piece of passion.”

Setting a first-person shooter in an era when cavalry was still used on the battlefield and carrier pigeons were a vital form of communication has also necessitated a slightly different gameplay approach than in previous Battlefield titles.

“We early on set out a direction for a more analogue and pure experience where engage distances are shorter, where we have stronger distinction between the different gameplay components,” Mr Gustavsson said.

“The classes are more specialised with less overlap, the different tanks have their unique roles and you as a tanker get to choose your playstyle, just as the pilot gets to do with the planes.

“This is to reinforce the trademarked rock-paper-scissors gameplay of Battlefield.”

The dynamic battlefield remains, with destructible environments — fire a field gun at a building and parts of it disintegrate; explosions gouge out shell holes in the terrain, and so on — alongside dynamic weather; sandstorms and fog appear without warning, “all in all providing a bigger sandbox for the players than ever before”, Mr Gustavsson said.

It’s not just a multiplayer game either, with the single-player campaign comprising several stories — including one set at Gallipoli in which the player is an Anzac soldier — providing what Mr Gustavsson felt “delivers an experience in the true spirit of Battlefield set against the Great War.”

Mr Gustavsson said the Battlefield series had always been about all-out-war, land, sea and air vehicles, teamplay, strategy and a highly destructive and dynamic playing field — which he felt they pushed even further with Battlefield 1.

He said with the game released, the development team was now shifting its mindset “from delivering a great game into the long co-operation with the community where we together look at the game and ensure that it remains a great experience with new exiting content for a long, long time”.

Originally published as Battlefield 1 release to bring WWI alive