planetbattlefield.com Intelligence Report #2 wrote:
What is Battlefield 2142?
This all began with this particular
video that was released on the internet.
From what we know, this video is a ‘Visual Target’. This means a short video was rendered to show the core game play. This video is then passed along to executives, etc and a decision is made to go ahead or drop the project. The Visual Target for Battlefield 2 was a small city.
Previous Rumor:
In our
previous Intelligence report, Rumor #8 stated: EA is considering porting the Battlefield 2 engine or the next version (Battlefield 3) for a sci-fi shooter along the lines of a Halo, or something similar.
Now if you look at the particular video you can see where the above rumor ties in. The Visual Target does look to be a sci-fi shooter.
Life Cycle of Battlefield Franchise:
We believe the life cycle of the Battlefield Franchise follows the below pattern:
Battlefield 1942 Life Cycle
Battlefield 1942, two Expansion Packs -> Road to Rome & Secret Weapons of WII.
Battlefield Vietnam – The x.5 Product. There are improvements made on the engine to add new features, etc.
Battlefield 2 Life Cycle
Battlefield 2, two Expansion Packs (one cancelled and two booster packs created instead) -> Special Forces, Booster Pack: Euro Force & Armored Fury.
Battlefield 2142 – The x.5 Product.
Battlefield 3 – From the information we have gathered, Battlefield 3 is supposed to be set a couple of years further in the future than Battlefield 2. This leads us to believe that Battlefield 2142 is not going to be Battlefield 3, but we could be wrong.
Interview Question:
Shacknews: What can we expect for the future of the Battlefield franchise?
Dan Blackstone: We’re about to announce something very big, so stay tuned. One other interviewer asked this and I gave him a hint, so it’s only fair that I do the same for you: 3213/3X2. Or said another way: S.R. 4588164.
From the above hints, one can deduce the following answers. 3213 / 3X2 = 2142. The Square Root of 4588165 = 2142.
DICE Press Releases:
If you look at the Press Releases that DICE released on their website. You can see that there is an ‘Untitled’ game coming in the Fall of 2006. We believe that this game will be Battlefield 2142. If you look another press release, there is a game slated for 2007 from what we can gather this would be Battlefield 3.
Domain Registered:
The
Battlefield 2142 domain has been registered. If you do a
whois on this domain you will find that the same Owner also owns all of the other Battlefield Series domains.
Conclusion:
From the information gathered above, we feel that Battlefield 2142 will be what Battlefield Vietnam was to Battlefield 1942. It is the ‘x.5’ product, basically a time filler to keep interest in the series until the next-generation Battlefield game is released.