Battlefield 3 Developer Focus Changed from PC to Consoles Mid-Production

DICE, the developer of the very successful Battlefield 3 first person shooter, has confirmed that, while it focused on the PC platform at first, in the middle of the development process it was forced to make the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 lead platforms in order to meet the release goal.

Battlefield 3 impressed over 5 million gamers up until now with its sharp graphics, powered by the Frosbite 2 engine, both on the PC as well as on consoles like the Playstation 3 or Xbox 360.

DICE even mentioned that because the studio made the PC lead platform for Battlefield 3, the console versions benefited as the team wanted to keep as much of the visual quality on those platforms.

Now, the general manager of the Swedish studio, Karl Magnus Troedsson told PSM3 magazine, via CVG, that, while the focus was on the PC at first, the team then concentrated on consoles to meet their deadlines.

"We said originally that the PC was the lead SKU of the game, but in mid-production we switched to console as lead platform to make sure we could get all the versions done for release," Troedsson confirmed.

"Our ambition at DICE is to use the power of each individual platform to get the most out of the game," he added. "In the case of the PS3, I understand that if you compare it to a high-end PC, it's not going to look as good. But if you compare it to other games on the PS3, including other games we've done previously, I have to say I'm very happy with how it looks. Hopefully people will agree when they look at it in the same way."

While Battlefield 3 still looks the best on a powerful PC, the console editions are still quite impressive, managing to deliver a quality experience, even if their platforms can't really match the power output of cutting edge PCs these days.