Visceral Games is gearing up for Battlefield: Hardline‘s sophomore beta after the studio hinted that fans can look forward to new details relating to the second phase of testing next week.
From this point on, Visceral will also host a weekly blog — aptly titled “The Season” — designed to provide updates to eager players on the status of the game coupled with behind-the-scenes videos. It’s clear that Battlefield 4‘s tumultuous launch is still lingering in the mind of EA, but even still, providing players with close to real-time information about Hardline is a promising approach to take.
Moreover, Visceral Games has had its proverbial ear to the ground ever since the shooter’s maiden beta test, with the studio’s Steve Papoutsis writing an open letter to the fanbase to allay any pre-launch worries:
“There’s no doubt moving the game back was the right call. The improvements the team has added to the game with the extra time are making Battlefield Hardline the complete first person shooter experience we set out to deliver.
“We don’t just want to tell you, we want to show you. Over the next 11 weeks you can come back here to learn more about the changes we’ve made – big and small – to make Hardline a complete FPS experience.”
Given that DICE is toiling away on Star Wars: Battlefront, Battlefield: Hardline stands as the only entry into the series scheduled for 2015. As such, there’s a considerable amount of expectation resting on the game’s shoulders, and it’ll be interesting to see how its audience take to the new-fangled cops vs. robbers dynamic.
After a delay forced it from its original release window last year, Battlefield: Hardline is now due to arrive for duty across PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC on March 17, 2015.