PC Beta of Bad Company 2 Delayed Until Early 2010

[Shawn Zipay]

While PlayStation 3 owners have been enjoying the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 beta for a bit now, PC users will have to wait just a bit longer. Originally expected to drop in December, the beta for BC2 on the PC has been pushed back until early 2010.

With the huge success of the PS3 Beta we decided to drastically increase the PC Beta's capacity to insure as many people as possible could participate. Unfortunately this meant we had to delay the Beta to very early next year giving us more planning time to make it happen and implement more optimizations.

It's unfortunate, but the wait should be worth it. DICE is planning on including a number of PC exclusive features. In case you don't know what those may be, take a look at them below.

• Up to 32 Players on PC (24 on consoles) - Play with up to 32 players online in the biggest multiplayer Maps in Battlefield. Each with a different tactical and gameplay focus set across a variety of environments.
• Full DirectX 9, 10 & 11 Support - Immerse yourself in the Battlefield world as Frostbite engine brings tanks, helicopters and explosions to vivid life on your PC. The game will fully support Windows XP, Vista, and 7 with new tech that further improves things like lighting and shadows.
• Enhanced Gameplay - The PC version also includes wide peripheral support like Joysticks for flying, NVIDIA 3D Vision, Logitech LCD Keyboards and VoIP Support plus a variety of specific features tailored for PC play.
• Friend Support - Find your friends online with the new buddy list to see if and who is online so you can quickly join their game.
• Dedicated Ranked Server - Everyone gets non-stop action with no connection penalties based on some other player's internet. Ranked Server Provider program will give players opportunity to rent their own server(s) located in professional grade datacenters, ability to modify settings like map rotation, create reserved slots for friends or clan members, kick & Ban players, and custom name your ranked server.
• Clan Support & Private Servers - Independent Clan Tag, and ability to rent servers for hosting and controlling private password protected competitive servers with expanded control over the settings from public ranked servers.
• PC Squad Play System - Updated from previous Battlefield PC titles now gives control of your squad before heading into combat.

[dslats715]

Re: PC Beta of Bad Company 2 Delayed Until Early 2010

Sad its delayed, but especially glad for the 32 players instead of 24. Still looking forward to it.

[K-16]

Re: PC Beta of Bad Company 2 Delayed Until Early 2010

I'm still very annoyed that this game won't have its dedicated server files released. I mean, those who want to make their own dedicated servers for a small group of friends are very much screwed, including those who want to test their mods online privately and cheaply.

[Shawn Zipay]

Re: PC Beta of Bad Company 2 Delayed Until Early 2010

I'm still very annoyed that this game won't have its dedicated server files released. I mean, those who want to make their own dedicated servers for a small group of friends are very much screwed, including those who want to test their mods online privately and cheaply.

Are you confusing this with Modern Warfare 2?

[Linux]

Re: PC Beta of Bad Company 2 Delayed Until Early 2010

I'm still very annoyed that this game won't have its dedicated server files released. I mean, those who want to make their own dedicated servers for a small group of friends are very much screwed, including those who want to test their mods online privately and cheaply.

BF:BC2 supports Dedicated servers, your confused on MW2. At least DICE\EA aren't a bunch of jerkwad morons that change everything and reinvent the wheel. BF: BC2 was confirmed to ship and support FULL Dedicated servers, mods, etc, etc.

[K-16]

Re: PC Beta of Bad Company 2 Delayed Until Early 2010

Wait what? Oh crap, I knew I should've checked in here sooner. Oh great, I'm going to perform thread necromancy now. And no no, I'm not confusing this with Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which has no dedicated servers from the community period. I meant Battlefield: Bad Company 2's dedicated servers are only from sponsored partners, meaning those who aren't partners (those who don't work for major companies) can't make dedicated servers as the files won't be released to the general public; it's only for partners who signed the agreement. For example, VALVe's games have their dedicated server files released to anyone. Meaning I can run a dedicated server off of another desktop computer for a couple of my friends if I wanted to. I can also test my mod if I was a mod author with my small development team; again, I am not running a full-player slot server so I can inexpensively test my mod in an online environment (please ignore the actual problems with this testing method, I am merely saying the option is not available at all for mod authors/players with a few friends who do not wish to spend money to rent a server from a sponsored partner).

I should probably mention that I don't consider listen servers as a valid alternative. I lag playing in listen servers under LAN conditions for God's sakes.