Call of Duty has been churning out annual titles for the past few years now and seems to have met success doing so, but rival franchise Battlefield won’t be following suit as DICE’s Patrick Bach declared that doing so would "eventually kill the franchise."
"The business goals for us are not to release a game every year," said Bach, the executive producer of Battlefield 3.
He continued to state that annual titles would limit development time and value for the games of the series and that giving annual titles off to other EA-owned studios would mean they "wouldn’t have that DICE seal of approval."
"EA would never force us to release a game every year," said Bach. "I think that would dilute the vision of the franchise, and you will eventually kill the franchise by doing that."
When asked if EA could decide to adopt a model similar to what Activision does with Call of Duty, which would allow a second studio to release a Battlefield game every other year where DICE would not, he didn’t think favorably of the possibility.
"I know for sure that there aren’t any discussions about doing that," Bach answered. "That would be the killing blow for the franchise."
However, what he did speak favorably of would be the creation of large expansions for Battlefield 3 along the lines of what DICE has already done with Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam.
"I think that’s a more healthy way of expanding on the game experience," Bach stated. "It’s not a new game but a twist on your old game, and I think that’s a healthier way of looking at a franchise rather than just trying to cram every single last penny out of it."
