It seems that double XP weekends aren’t enough these days, so DICE is running a double XP week this time around. It’s live from July 2 to July 8 if you’re a Premium member, and from July 2-4 if you’re not a Premium member. In case you’re not familiar with the concept, double XP simply doubles the points you have earned at the end of the round, both the score and award score. Last week EA announced that Battlefield Premium had passed over 800,000 members.

What do you think of the Double XP weekends, and now weeks? Is it too much, or a good incentive to attract more Premium members?

Battlefield Premium is turning out the be quite popular, as EA revealed today that over 800,000 Battlefield 3 players have forked over the $50 to become Premium members. And that’s only after being just two weeks on the market, according to EA’s Patrick Soderlund, who spoke to USA Today. In case you’re not familiar with Battlefield Premium, it’s main feature is early access to DLC — which is also free. In addition, Premium members receive a whole bunch of perks, including double-XP weekends, dog tags, a special knife, and more.

“We’re actually only two weeks into it, so it’s a little early to tell how this is going to pay off. It certainly it looks very promising right now.” said Soderlund in the interview. It should look promising — 800,000 Premium members translates to $40 million in revenue, which was roughly the entire budget for Battlefield 3. For more, check out the full Battlefield Premium details.

Battlefield Premium has its many advantages, like extra content, double-XP weekends, dog tags, and more. Now there’s another bonus feature for premium members: get to play against DICE members on two servers today. PC players can look for the servers “Webhallen 01″ and “Real owning clan”, which will be populated by DICE members for a few hours later today.

PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 owners will get the same chance to play against DICE as well. For PlayStation 3 players, the time is tomorrow, June 27, between 17:00 CET and 20:00 CET, while Xbox 360 players will get to join on the 28th. Look for severs called “DICE GAME WITH DEV”.

For obvious reasons, expect the servers to be packed during that time.

Via Battlelog.

Frostbite 2, the engine that powers Battlefield 3 and the upcoming Medal of Honor Warfighter, was designed from the outset to run on the powerful hardware that next generation consoles will bring, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720, according to Patric Soderlund.

Soderlund, who was recently promoted from DICE to EA as the head of their EA Games label, told Gamasutra regarding the high system requirements of the Frotsbite 2 engine:

“Frostbite 2 was built for the next generation. That’s how we started it. We had that in mind and we said, ‘We’re going to have to build something that can scale’. It doesn’t mean that what you see in Battlefield 3 is the end state. That’s the beginning; that’s where we start and then we go forward”

Battlefield 3 has received numerous awards and lots of recognition for its visuals, physics, and other technologies. Soderlund also mentioned that Medal of Honor Warfighter was originally built on the Unreal Engine 3, but when developers saw the possibilities of Frostbite 2, they switched over. EA recently opened a new studio in Sweden to continue working on the engine. So far, three upcoming EA games use the new engine; Need For Speed: The Run, Command & Conquer Generals 2, and MoH Warfighter.

Battlefield 3 Close Quarters has been out for a while now, and we’d like to hear what you guys think of it. The community seems to be very polarized over this specific DLC, the hardcore Battlefield 3 veterans who are used to big, open maps are complaining that it’s too “Call of Duty-like”, while newer Battlefield players seem to appreciate the tight infantry combat.

So what are your thoughts on Close Quarters? Does it meet your expectations? What do you love/hate about it? What are your favorite maps and weapons? Let us know in the comments section!

DICE has announced another Battlefield 3 double XP weekend on June 16-17. The event will be open to both Premium and non premium members, and all maps will be supported, including the recently released Close Quarters DLC. The Battlefield 3 double XP weekend will run from 00:01 AM PDT June 16th – 11:59 PM PDT June 17th. Points will be doubled just like last time — simply play on any ranked server and any points you have accumulated at the end of the round will be doubled up. For more details and your local kick off times, check out the Battlelog news post.

We’ve got some more footage from Battlefield 3 Armored Kill from E3, this time, it’s an on stage preview done by G4, accompanied by an interview with DICE’s Patrick Bach. The gameplay footage this time features a map called Caspian Sea according to Bach, who also said it’ll be the biggest map in the history of Battlefield. Bach said about the upcoming DLC:

“With Armored Kill, we got back to our roots, with really big maps, plenty of vehicles, the classic Battlefield formula — we’ll have the biggest maps ever built in a Battlefield game”

Bach also confirmed that Armored Kill will feature 6 new vehicles, including the ATM, two mobile artillery vehicles, two light tanks, and the AC-130 gunship. Also, not all game modes will be available for Armored Pack, and the DLC will not include any new weapons — only vehicles and game modes such as the new mode “Tank Superiority”. Armored Kill will be released in September.

Battlefield 3 Armored Kill won’t be out until September, but already we’re getting a ton of info on the expansion here at E3. EA showed Armored Kill behind closed doors at E3, running a map called Bandar Desert, which featured new vehicles such as ATVs, mobile artillery, and new, light-armored and faster tanks. There’s also a tank superiority mode, which wasn’t detailed at this point. Armored Kill will also introduce over 20 upgrades for tanks and armored vehicles.

Regarding the AC-130 gunship, it’s accessed by capturing and holding a specific control point on the map. However, the AC-130 cannot be flown, and instead automatically circles the control point. The AC-130 has no pilot, but seats 4 people: two gunners manning 125mm cannons, and two gunners manning the anti-air guns to protect against enemy jets and helicopters. The AC-130 also doubles as a mobile spawn point, but cannot be repaired against damage, which means it can be shot down by enemy ground and air forces. Head on after the break for some Armored Kill gameplay footage. READ ON »

The latest Battlefield 3 trailer shows some new gameplay from the recently release Close Quarters DLC (on the PS3), and it shows the new game modes. One of the brand new game modes is called “Gun Master”, and it really, really reminds us of “Gun Play” from Counter-Strike. That’s the mode where you have to rake in a certain amount of kills with a gun before another gun unlocks and you move up the ladder. We’re not sure of Gun Master works 100% the same way, but it does seem similar. Close Quarters will be available for PC and Xbox 360 players on June 10.

UPDATE: Close Quarters has a confirmed release date for June 12 for Premium members and June 26 for non Premium members on the PC and Xbox 360.

The massive AC-130 gunship was a big surprise for many players when it was spotted in the Battlefield Premium trailer, some didn’t even believe it was real. Now we know it’s real: the Battlefield 3 AC-130 gunship will be part of the Armored Kill DLC, which will also include some of the biggest maps in the Battlefield franchise. The first Battlefield 3 AC-130 screenshots have leaked, showing the gunship, a map, and the user interface/view when inside the gunship. It’s unknown if the player will control the gunship itself, whether it’ll fly on autopilot, or if a dedicated pilot is required and a teammate manning the guns. We’ll have to wait and see. Head on after the break for a couple of screenshots. READ ON »