14 DAY TRIAL // Battlefield 3, the newest iteration in the shooter series developed by DICE, will have to be scaled down on consoles like the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 as they're not as powerful as current PCs these days.
DICE has said on multiple occasions that the PC is lead platform for the Battlefield 3 game, largely because it's the only one that can properly show what its new Frostbite 2 engine can do.
As such, the console versions of Battlefield 3 are going to be scaled down, as opposed to the PC one, but they're still going to look great, according to DICE General Manager Karl-Magnus Troedsson.
"PC is the leading platform, conceptually, for this game, definitely. We are going to make this game on 360 and PlayStation 3 as well, [but] we need to scale it down to those platforms," he told PC Gamer (via CVG).
In the end, it all comes down to the specifications of each platform and, seeing as how the PS3 and Xbox 360 are already being overtaken in terms of hardware, this was the only logical decision.
"The PC players are going to love to hear that, but it's a fact. The hardware specs on the console are limited. At the same time, for each iteration on these console platforms we can utilize the power of them better and better, so what we do on the other platforms is going to be amazing, and look much better on the PC too," Troedsson added.
Further twisting the knife into the wounded egos of console owners, the DICE boss continued, saying that because it’s the lead platform, the PC will also be on the receiving end of some unique features, but that he can't reveal just what they are yet.
We already know that the PC version will boast a 64-player multiplayer mode, as opposed to the 24-player one on consoles.
What's more, DICE also admitted last week that in some of its internal tests, the PC version of Battlefield 3 supported even 256 players, but that experience wasn't all that fun, so the team decided to scale it down to a more manageable 64-player one.
Battlefield 3 has already gotten people excited about it after the release of a gameplay video a few weeks ago, made on the PC, which showed the power of the Frostbite 2 engine.
Expect the game to be published by Electronic Arts at the end of the year.