Sergei Prokaziuk

EA Digital Illusions CE AB (trade name: DICE) is a Swedish video game developer based in Stockholm. The company was founded in 1992 and has been a subsidiary of Electronic Arts since 2006. Its releases include the Battlefield, Mirror's Edge and Star Wars Battlefront series. Through their Frostbite Labs division, the company also develops the Frostbite game engine.

Digital Illusions was founded in May 1992 by Olof "Olle" Gustafsson, Markus Nyström, Fredrik Liljegren and Andreas Axelsson, four friends and former members of The Silents, a demogroup that developed for Amiga systems. The four studied at Växjö University, thus DICE was established in Växjö.

In 2000, DICE acquired developer Refraction Games (developers of Codename Eagle). From the acquisition, DICE inherited the in-development Battlefield 1942. Patrick Söderlund, who had founded Refraction Games in 1997, subsequently joined DICE as chief executive officer. This was followed with the merger of Sandbox Studios in April 2001. Sandbox Studios added 50 employees to DICE's staff, amounting to 150 total employees. In September 2004, DICE also merged with Trauma Studios in New York City. Trauma Studios employed nine people at the time.

In November 2004, Electronic Arts (EA) announced their intent to purchase all outstanding shares in DICE at a price of 61 kr per share, with the deal's closing deadline scheduled for 27 December. At the time, EA owned 18.9% in DICE. Initially, the offer was rejected by shareholders representing 28% of DICE's ownership on 15 December, after which EA adjusted its offer on 20 December, intending to only purchase 44.5% at the same price per share, extending the offer deadline to 20 January 2005. On 25 January 2005, shareholders agreed to the acquisition, and EA raised their ownership in DICE to 59.8%.

In March 2006, EA announced a new plan to acquire all outstanding shares in DICE for 67.50 kr per share. The acquisition was completed on 2 October, with 2.6 million shares in DICE transferred to EA in exchange for a total of 175.5 million kr. Shortly following the acquisition, on 5 October, EA closed Digital Illusions Canada, DICE's Ontario-based studio. The 25 employees working at the studio at the time were given the option to transfer to DICE's headquarters in Stockholm or any other EA studio. DICE co-founder Liljegren announced on 16 October that he established RedJade as a successor to Digital Illusions Canada.

In May 2013, EA opened a new Los Angeles-based division for DICE known as DICE LA, helmed by former senior staff of EA's previously closed studio Danger Close Games. DICE LA had generally been involved with support of DICE and other EA games and had not generated any title on their own. Vince Zampella of Respawn Entertainment (another EA studio) was named as the studio's new lead in January 2020. Zampella had indicated at this time that they would likely become separate from DICE, and change their name to reflect this. DICE LA announced their new name, Ripple Effect Studios, in July 2021, but otherwise under management by Zampella, and while they will finish work on Battlefield 2042, will move in a new direction following its release.

On December 2, 2021, Electronic Arts announced that Vince Zampella, co-founder of Respawn Entertainment and head of Ripple Effect Studios, will oversee the Battlefield series going forward, with Ripple Effect leading the way in developing the franchise's "new experiences", instead of DICE. Along with the announcement, it was reported that DICE General Manager Oskar Gabrielson would be leaving EA, with Rebecka Coutaz, formerly Managing Director of Ubisoft Annecy, taking his place in the role.

Players fight in a modern battlefield, using modern weapon systems. Battlefield 2 is a first-person shooter with some strategy and Tactical Shooter elements.

The single-player aspect features missions that involve clashes between U.S. Marines, China and the fictional Middle Eastern Coalition. The multiplayer aspect of the game allows players to organize into squads that come under the leadership of a single commander to promote teamwork. The story takes place in the early 21st century during a fictional world war between various power blocs: China, the European Union, the fictional Middle Eastern Coalition (MEC), Russia and the United States. The game takes place in different fronts, as the Middle East and China are being invaded by US and EU forces, and the United States is being invaded by Chinese and MEC forces. A sequel, Battlefield 3, was released in October 2011.

On June 30, 2014, the multiplayer master server was shut down alongside other GameSpy-powered titles. However, fan-created mods quickly restored online functionality with alternative servers. In 2017, Electronic Arts demanded the takedown of the modified versions of Battlefield 2 on alternate servers, distributed by a group known as "Revive Network", as infringement of their copyrights.

Battlefield 2 screenshot showing a USMC Spec Ops player capturing a MEC control point

Battlefield 2 is a sequel to Battlefield Vietnam, with many changes to the popular gameplay of the original. Many of these new gameplay features were added to the game with teamwork and collaboration in mind. The new game engine includes improved physics, dynamic lighting, and more realistic material penetration.

Battlefield 2 is a multiplayer video game played via the Internet or on a local area network. A single-player mode with three difficulty levels is included. Both player modes use the same maps and use Battlefield's conquest game mode. Single-player mode allows 16 computer-controlled players while Internet mode allows up to 64 players. Players can choose to play as the United States Marine Corps, the People's Liberation Army, or the "Middle Eastern Coalition". Additional factions are playable through the expansion packs, such as the European Union. Progress in the game is made via promotions which allow additional weapons to be unlocked. By playing the game on ranked servers, players are able to add to their global player statistics. These statistics are used to award promotions and other achievements.

In Battlefield 2, players are divided into two opposing teams (which factions they represent is dependent upon the map). The key objective in Battlefield 2 is to reduce the opposing teams tickets. Tickets represent an army's ability to reinforce their position on the battlefield; each team has only a limited supply of tickets, and each casualty on the battlefield reduces the number of available tickets. Control points represent key points on the map, and are represented by flags. Control points are Battlefield 2's spawn points, and one team possessing a significant majority of the control points causes the other teams tickets to gradually decrease, regardless of casualties. A round ends when one team's tickets gone, the round's timer ends, or if at any point a team holds no control points, and has no soldiers alive on the battlefield (meaning they are not present in any way on the battlefield).

Battlefield 2's two game modes are Conquest and Cooperative. The only difference between the two modes is that Cooperative includes computer-controlled players, whilst Conquest allows only human players. Results from Cooperative mode do not count toward global player statistics.

In Battlefield 2, as with previous Battlefield titles, players are able to select from a variety of infantry classes. Each class of soldier is equipped with different weaponry appropriate to their role in the battle. Assault soldiers, for example, are general-purpose infantry with grenade-launcher equipped assault-rifles and extra armor, Medics carry first-aid equipment such as a field defibrillator, and Anti-Tank troopers are equipped with missiles which are effective against heavy armor.

Players are able to choose a class at the start of a match, or between dying and respawn. Players can also change their class by picking up a "kit" from the body of an incapacitated soldier, friendly or otherwise. Hence, an Assault soldier can become a Medic if they come across a fallen Medic. Player classes are divided in 'Heavy' (with reduced damage done to the torso, but lower stamina) and 'Light' (with standard multipliers, but higher stamina, thus able to sprint for a longer time).

Within the infantry class, there are four support classes with special abilities. The Engineer can repair with his wrench, the Medic can revive with his defibrillator paddles and heal, the Support can resupply ammunition with his ammunition bags and the sniper can place claymores and engage long distance targets. When one of these three classes occupies a vehicle (with the exception of the recon), nearby personnel and vehicles can be replenished, repaired or healed by being in close proximity.

• Assault - Primary role is to engage in combat with enemies at medium range.
• Medic - Primary role is to revive and heal teammates
• Anti-Tank - Primary role is to undertake anti-tank warfare
• Engineer - Primary role is to repair or destroy vehicles
• Support - Primary role is to provide suppressive fire against enemies and resupply teammates
• Special Forces - Primary role is carry out stealth and sabotage missions
• Sniper - Primary role is to engage targets at long distances.

The various forces still use the trademark feature of the Battlefield series – the large stable of vehicles that any player can climb into and control. There are many different types of vehicles playable in Battlefield 2, all based on real-life vehicles used by the militaries of different countries.

In contrast to Battlefield 1942, Battlefield 2 has only one purely water-based vehicle, the rigid-inflatable boat; however, the BTR-90, the MEC APC, can travel in water as well as the LAV-25 and the WZ 551, the USMC and PLA equivalents, respectively. The developers tried to design the game so that every vehicle would be weak to another type of vehicle, intending to create a situation similar to a game of rock-paper-scissors. For example, mobile anti-air was intended to effectively destroy helicopters, but are vulnerable against opposing tanks. Included within this relationship are stationary defenses such as light machine guns and anti-aircraft/TOW emplacements. The availability and number of certain vehicles are dependent on the map and its size as well as control points captured. Also, more vehicles become available to be used on the maps of expansion/booster packs. (see Maps). The USS Essex is the only naval ship featured in BF2, featuring two spawn points and aircraft spawn points, and is not drivable or destroyable, except for its Phalanx turrets.

Players are able to form squads of up to six soldiers in order to more effectively work as a team. Up to nine squads are permitted per team; each squad has a number (automatically assigned) and name (usually a phonetic alphabet letter) for identification. Members of a squad have the ability to communicate with one another via Battlefield 2's integrated voice over IP (VoIP) system.

Squad leaders may assign their squad a variety of objectives (for example, moving to or attacking a specific location). Orders may also be given by the team's commander. Squad leaders are able to issue requests for commander assets (such as artillery fire) and have a direct VoIP channel to the commander.

Members of a squad may spawn near their squad leader, provided that the leader is not dead (or incapacitated), and that the team holds at least one control point. This feature allows squads to more quickly regroup after taking casualties.

The commander position is an exclusive role played by one member of each team. Any member of a team may apply for the position, but priority is given to players of higher rank.

The commander alone has access to the "commander screen", an interface similar to that of a real-time strategy game. This allows the commander an overview of the battlefield as a whole, or zoom in and view parts of the map in real-time. The commander also has control of the various commander assets, which include artillery strikes, vehicle and supply drops, and UAV's. They can deploy them to assist their team. The commander can communicate with squads either by sending orders, or via VoIP voice communication. These tools allow the commander to strategically coordinate their forces on the battlefield.

A commander may resign at any point, freeing the position for other members of their team; they may also be forcibly removed by a successful mutiny vote conducted by their team (provided the server allows mutiny votes). Although the commander does not gain points by normal methods (kills, flag captures, etc.), their score is doubled at the end of the round if their team wins.

The commander position would be seen again in Battlefield 2142 and Battlefield 4.

Players can earn awards (ribbons, badges, and medals) for certain in-game accomplishments. Badges and ribbons are the easiest to obtain, while medals are usually much harder, requiring more extensive play. As players ascend through the ranks they will gain the ability to unlock certain weapons. Each time a player is promoted to an eligible rank, they are given the opportunity to unlock one of seven unlockable weapons, one for each class, which they may subsequently use in place of the standard weapon for the given class.

A built-in game recorder records battles for subsequent replay. These files can be downloaded from a server which supports BattleRecorder directly after their respective game. Recorded battle files are around 1 to 8 megabytes in size and are played within the Battlefield 2 engine. Camera angles can be changed (free roaming & selected player), as well as the speed, though there is no rewind capability. Files can be exported to AVI format. The Battlefield Recorder has facilitated the creation of various machinima. Usage of the PunkBuster service is mandatory for all official ranked Battlefield 2 servers, but optional for unranked servers.

3 variations for the Gulf of Oman map

Battlefield 2 offers 15 maps for the players to play but shipped with 12. These maps are diverse, ranging from swamps such as Songhua Stalemate, to urban areas such as Strike at Karkand, to an unfinished dam known as Kubra Dam. The USMC is present in all maps and faces against either the MEC or the PLA depending on the map. The PLA is present in Far East theaters such as Dragon Valley and Daqing Oilfields. MEC is present in Middle East theaters such as Gulf of Oman and Zatar Wetlands. The BF2 series including the expansion and booster packs puts the map count at 29 maps.

Battlefield 2 maps have 3 variations, each suited for a certain number of players. Each map has 16, 32, and 64 player-suggested variations in which the area of battlefield or playing field is relatively small, medium, and large, respectively. The only exceptions to this are Wake Island 2007, which is locked at 64-player size and the Euro Force maps, Operation Smokescreen, Great Wall, and Taraba Quarry, which have no 64-player size. 32 and 64 player maps are unavailable to offline players from retailers, but an option is given to download 64 Single player AI bot mods. Other contrasts between these variations other than the size are the number and position of control points and availability of vehicles. As a result, the gameplay of the map is different depending on the variation.

The game is set in 2007 during a world war between various power blocs: the United States aided by the European Union and the United Kingdom are at war against Russia, China and the fictional Middle Eastern Coalition (MEC) aided by various insurgent groups.

There is no given reason as to how or why the war broke out, though one likely theory is for control of oil reserves. In-game, the European Union and the United States fight China and the MEC. It is mentioned in-game that the US and EU are allies and the EU has negotiated a truce with Russia, but it is unknown if China and the MEC are allies. The game also takes place in different fronts, as the Middle East and China are being invaded by US and EU forces, and the United States is being invaded by Chinese and MEC forces.

Battlefield 2: Special Forces

Battlefield 2's first expansion pack, Special Forces, first began its development sometime during or shortly before the release of the original Battlefield 2 by DICE: Battlefield producer, Mike Doran, commented in August 2005 that "The truth is that work on Battlefield 2: Special Forces began several months ago." It was officially announced on July 14, 2005 and released on November 21 of the same year. The focus of the development was infantry-based combat as opposed to vehicle-centric combat from the original. As such, most of the additional content in the expansion pack can only be used by or for infantry.

The expansion pack provides eight maps, 6 playable factions, and ten more vehicles such as the AH-64D Apache and Mi-35 Hind, though all jets have been removed. In addition to these new contents, players have access to new equipment such as night vision goggles, tear gas, gas masks, zip lines and grappling hooks which can alter gameplay. There are eight more small arms weapons available such as the G36K/E and FN SCAR L/H and several weapons from the original are replaced. The expansion offers more awards in the form of badges, ribbons, and medals that players can earn. Finally, many of the weapons from the expansion may be used in the original Battlefield 2.

Battlefield 2: Booster Pack Collection

Booster packs are additional content released for Battlefield 2 that are currently available for free download. The booster packs were later available in retail form as the Booster Pack Collection, containing a DVD which features these packs, as well as being included in "The Complete Collection", containing a DVD with both the original game and all of the expansions/booster packs.

Booster packs add a significant amount of content to the game, but are different from expansion packs because they are intended to add to the original gameplay and not stand on their own (such as Special Forces does). The booster packs include new maps, vehicles, and a new European Union faction.

The two booster packs were included free of charge in the 1.50 update released on September 1, 2009.

Battlefield 2: Euro Force is the first booster pack, and was released on March 14, 2006. The booster pack allows players to play as a new European Union army, armed with new weapons and vehicles from the various countries of the EU. It is available for purchase online at the Electronic Arts download service, or as part of the retail Booster Pack Collection. It was scheduled for release in February, but was delayed due to a substantial number of new bugs caused by the release of patch 1.2. It features a whole new army, 4 new vehicles, 3 new maps, and 7 new weapons such as the L85A2 with AG36 GL, the FAMAS, the HK53, the HK21, and the Benelli M4. Some of the vehicles for the EU military include the Challenger 2, Eurocopter Tiger, Leopard 2A6 and the Eurofighter. The maps include 'The Great Wall of China', against the People's Liberation Army of China, where the EU army is trying to gain a strong foothold in northern China, to reinforce their American allies in the south later on. 'Operation Smoke Screen' features the EU army fighting the MEC in the Middle East for precious oil fields, and the third map, 'Taraba Quarry', where the EU army is trying to reinforce American positions in the south. Mindful of the European plans, the MEC tries to stall the EU, where the Europeans must confront their enemies because that route is the only possible path along that side of the Caspian Sea.

It was made free with patch 1.5.

Battlefield 2: Armored Fury is the second booster pack released for Battlefield 2 and was released on June 6, 2006. It added three new maps, as well as two new vehicle classes: attack jets for close air support and reconnaissance helicopters that operate as a mobile UAV. The booster pack has the USMC defending U.S. soil from invasions from the PLA and MEC. Operation Midnight Sun features the Chinese landing at the Alaskan port Valdez where they are trying to secure much needed fuel from the pipeline. Operation Road Rage is a MEC vs. USMC map, where the MEC are using US Highways to transport units to industrial areas. Operation Harvest sees the United States trying to stall the MEC en route to the capital of Washington D.C. from the northwest, being blocked in a Pennsylvania Dutch farm, while waiting for reinforcements. New vehicles include Attack or Close Air Support aircraft such as the A-10 Thunderbolt II, Su-39 and the Nanchang Q-5 as well as new light utility helicopters such as MH-6 Little Bird, EC-635 and the Z-11. As well as the addition of new helicopters and planes, DICE also added the Muscle Car and Semi Truck. However, the proposed AV-8B Harrier was cut from the add-on due to balancing issues.

Like Euro Force, it was made free with patch 1.5.

The soundtrack of Battlefield 2 consists of 18 tracks composed and created by Fredrik Englund, David Tallroth, and Jonas Östholm.

The game received widespread critical acclaim, garnering an aggregate score of 91/100 from 55 reviews on Metacritic. It received five stars out of five from publications Yahoo! Games, GameSpy, X-Play and Computer Gaming World. PC Gamer awarded it 94%, stating, "Its finely tuned maps and balanced gameplay prove that you can improve on perfection," and honored it as Game of the Year. GameSpot rated the game 9.3 out of 10 claiming that "when you experience Battlefield 2 like it's meant to be played, with everyone working together and using real-time voice chat, the game quickly becomes unlike anything else that you've played before."

Some of the lower scores were reactions to the large amount of bugs and glitches in the initial release, including crash to desktop bugs and network problems. For example, Gaming Nexus (who awarded the game an 8.7 out of 10) reported, "I’ve had many cool experiences playing it and a lot of 'did I just see that' moments but all of that is crapped on by the bugs and quirks in the game."

GamesRadar approved of the game, awarding a 90%, but added a disclaimer that the gaming experience is best "if your machine is up to it". GameSpot's review agreed with the high system requirements noting that "the load times are one of the biggest gripes that we have, as you will spend quite a bit of time waiting for a game to start up, even on high-end machines...also a bit demanding in the hardware department."

Battlefield 2 sold 1.2 million copies in its first month after release. Total sales by July 2006 were 2,225,000. It received a "Gold" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 200,000 copies in the United Kingdom.

Battlefield 2 won PC Gamer US's "Best Multiplayer Game 2005" and "Game of the Year 2005" awards. The magazine's Dan Stapleton wrote, "Few other games in the history of the medium have so effectively captured the visceral feeling of modern military combat in an urban environment". The editors of Computer Games Magazine presented Battlefield 2 with their 2005 awards for "Best Action Game" and "Best Multiplayer", and named it the year's second-best computer game overall. They called it "perhaps the most thrilling example of how far shooters have come in the last few years."

The game was developed by the Canadian company DICE Canada and published by Electronic Arts. Battlefield Vietnam takes place during the Vietnam War and features a large variety of maps based on historical settings, such as the Ho Chi Minh Trail, Battle of Hue, Ia Drang Valley, Operation Flaming Dart, the Battle of Khe Sanh and Fall of Saigon. On 15 March 2005, EA re-released the game as Battlefield Vietnam: Redux, which includes new vehicles, maps, and an EA-produced World War II mod, based on the previous Battlefield 1942.

Battlefield Vietnam has the same point by point objectives of Battlefield 1942. In most maps, the objective is to occupy Control Points around the map in order to enable friendly players and controllable vehicles to spawn. Similar to other Battlefield games, Spawn tickets play a vital role for defeat of a team. Battlefield Vietnam features a revolutionary form of asymmetrical warfare gameplay. The two teams (U.S. or North Vietnamese) are given wildly different kits and vehicles, making the U.S. rely more on heavy vehicles and the Vietnamese rely more on infantry tactics. The U.S., for instance, will get heavy tanks, helicopters, and bombers, while the Vietnamese are forced to rely on anti-tank/anti-aircraft weapons in order to stop the U.S. side. This gameplay was intended to reflect the actual conditions of the war. A "Sipi Hole" feature for the Vietnamese – effectively a mobile spawn point, representative of the vast tunnel networks the Vietnamese used in the actual war – was implemented in order to balance the gameplay.

Battlefield Vietnam features the United States, with Marines, Army and the Navy, South Vietnam with Army of the Republic of Vietnam and North Vietnam with People's Army of Vietnam and the Viet Cong.

Built on a modified Battlefield 1942 engine, Battlefield Vietnam has many new and improved features from its predecessor. The game gives the player a variety of weapons based on the war. Various contemporary weapons and concepts are featured such as the AK47 assault rifle and punji stick traps. It also has several additions to it, such as air-lifting vehicles and, while in a vehicle, playing the vehicle's radio, which featured 1960s music. Players can replace the vehicle soundtrack with their own music tracks. Players are able to fire from the passenger sides of vehicles, rather than leaving the player defenseless. The game is the first in the Battlefield series to utilize a 3D map, allowing players to see icons that represent the position of control points or friendly units, giving the player an increased situational awareness.

In June 2004, Battlefield Vietnam received a "Gold" certification from the Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland, indicating sales of at least 100,000 units across Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Overall sales of Battlefield Vietnam reached 990,000 copies by that November, by which time the Battlefield series had sold 4.4 million copies.

The game received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.

Battlefield Vietnam was a runner-up for Computer Games Magazine's list of the 10 best computer games of 2004. It won the magazine's special award for "Best Soundtrack". It also won GameSpot's 2004 "Best Licensed Music" award.

The game can be played in single-player mode against the video game AI or in multiplayer mode against players on the Internet or in a local area network. It is a popular platform for mod developers, with many released modifications that alter the gameplay and theme.

In-game, players assume the role of one of five classes of infantry: Scout, Assault, Anti-Tank, Medic, and Engineer. Players also have the ability to fly various World War II fighter aircraft and bombers, navigate capital ships, submarines, and aircraft carriers, man coastal artillery defenses, drive tanks, APCs and jeeps, and take control of anti-aircraft guns and mounted machine guns.

Each battle takes place on one of several maps located in a variety of places and famous battlefields in all of the major theaters of World War II: the Pacific, European, North African, Eastern, and Italian Fronts. Combat is between the Axis Powers and the Allies. The location determines which nation-specific armies are used (for example, on the Wake Island map, it is Japan versus the United States, while on the El Alamein map, it is Germany versus the United Kingdom). The maps in Battlefield 1942 are based on real battles and are somewhat realistically portrayed.

Upon release, Battlefield 1942 received generally favorable reviews, with particular praise directed towards the innovative gameplay, multiplayer, and World War II theme. The game went on to perform well commercially, with over 3 million copies sold by 2004. Since its release, the game has spawned numerous sequels and spin-offs, which became part of what ultimately would become the Battlefield game series.

Battlefield 1942 features combat both as infantry and in vehicles

The gameplay of Battlefield 1942 generally has a more co-operative focus than previous games of this nature, as it is not only important to kill the opposition but to also hold certain "control points" around the map. Capturing control points allows the team to reinforce itself by enabling players and vehicles to spawn in a given area. Additionally, capturing and controlling control points also reduces enemy reinforcements. Battlefield 1942 was one of the first mainstream games to represent a dramatic shift in FPS gameplay mentality not only favoring individualism but simultaneously encouraging teamwork and coordination.

The default gameplay mode, Conquest, centers on the capture and control of control points; once a team captures a control point, its members can respawn from it. When a team loses control of all their control points, they cannot respawn. And if no one is alive, the team with no "spawn" points or the popular term "tickets" loses.

Games are composed of rounds. A team wins the round when the other team runs out of tickets. A team loses tickets when its members are killed, but also when the other team holds a majority of the capture points on the map (typically when one team holds more capture points than the other). Therefore, sometimes the winning team must hunt down straggling or hiding enemy forces at the end of a round.

Spawn tickets also play a vital role in the success of both teams. Every time a player on a team dies and respawns, their team loses one ticket. Every team starts each round with between 150 and 300 tickets, depending on the team's role (e.g., defense). Teams also gradually lose tickets depending on how many spawn points they control. As a general rule, the fewer spawn points controlled by a team, the more tickets they lose, and as they hold on these spawn points reduces, the tickets start dropping at a much quicker pace. For a team of 32 on a 64 player map, with 150 tickets, this means a little less than 5 respawns or deaths on average for every player if they hold their starting spawn points.

The player can choose to play as either the Allied team or the Axis team. The Allies consist of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and the Soviet Union, while the Axis consists of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. Regardless of which nation is chosen by the player, there are five different roles of infantry that the player can assume the role: Scout, Assault, Medic, Anti-tank, and Engineer.

Each role has its own strength and weakness. For example, the scout role has long-range surveillance, high stopping power and the ability to provide spotting for artillery shelling against an enemy position (unlike other games with a similar feature, other player characters must also supply the artillery fire); however, the sniper rifle is not designed to be used in close-quarter combat and players frequently treat this role as just a plain sniper role by not providing spotting for artillery. Assault is the standard role and provides very aggressive firepower. The Anti-tank role specializes against vehicles and tanks, but their main weapon is inaccurate against moving enemy infantry. The Medic role has the ability to heal (himself and other players), but his sub-machine gun has less stopping power than the Assault's weapons. The Engineer has the ability to repair damaged vehicles and stationary weapons, and they also have the ability to deploy explosives, which are highly effective against both enemy infantry and vehicles, and lastly, land mines, which destroy enemy vehicles on contact.

The game was originally proposed by DICE as a GameCube exclusive. Though satisfied with the proposal, negotiations never made it further because Nintendo had no online strategy. The game was developed by a team of 14 people at Digital Illusions. Battlefield 1942 was built on the formula of the less well-known and successful Codename Eagle video game, set in an alternate history World War I. It featured single and multiplayer modes. The earlier Refractor 1 engine had more arcade-style physics and a less realistic focus than its successor, Refractor 2, which was used in Battlefield 2. A Macintosh-compatible version of Battlefield 1942 was made and released by Aspyr Media in mid-2004. An Xbox version of the game was also announced in early 2001 but was cancelled almost two years later so Electronic Arts could more closely work on an expansion pack for the PC.

Two expansion packs would be released for Battlefield 1942, Battlefield 1942: The Road to Rome (adding the Italian Front) and Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII, both adding various new gameplay modes, maps, and game concepts. The Road to Rome focuses on the Italian battles, allowing players to play as the Free French forces or as the Royal Italian Army. Secret Weapons of WWII focuses on prototypical, experimental, and rarely used weapons and vehicles (such as jet packs), and added subfactions to the German and British Armies, the German Elite Troops and British Commandos. Accompany each were patches to the base game that fixed bugs, and added extra content (such as the Battle of Britain map) to the base game. Battlefield 1942 Deluxe Edition includes the original game and Battlefield 1942: The Road To Rome, and the Battlefield 1942: World War II Anthology added Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII expansion pack. Battlefield 1942: The Complete Collection later added Battlefield Vietnam and Battlefield Vietnam WWII Mod.

In the United States, Battlefield 1942 sold 680,000 copies and earned $27.1 million by August 2006. At the time, this led Edge to rank it as the country's 18th best-selling computer game released since January 2000. Combined sales of all Battlefield computer games, including Battlefield 1942, had reached 2.7 million units in the United States by August 2006.[19] In December 2002, the game received a "Gold" sales award from the Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland (VUD), indicating sales of at least 100,000 units across Germany, Austria and Switzerland.The game sold more than 3 million copies by July 2004.

The game received "generally favorable reviews", just one point shy of "universal acclaim", according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. At 6th annual Interactive Achievement Awards, Battlefield 1942 received awards for Online Gameplay, Innovation in PC Gaming, PC Game of the Year, and Game of the Year. In March 2010 Battlefield 1942 was awarded with "Swedish game of the decade" award at the computer game gala hosted by Swedish Games Industry.

Scott Osborne of GameSpot called it a "comic book version of WWII." The publication later named it the best computer game of September 2002. Steve Butts of IGN praised the multiplayer, but said that "the single-player game leaves much to be desired."

PC Gamer US and Computer Games Magazine named Battlefield 1942 the best multiplayer computer game and best overall computer game of 2002; it tied with No One Lives Forever 2 for the latter award in Computer Games Magazine. It also won GameSpot's annual "Best Multiplayer Action Game on PC" and "Biggest Surprise on PC" awards, and was nominated in the publication's "Best Graphics (Technical) on PC" and "Game of the Year on PC" categories. PC Gamer US's editors hailed it as "the realization of our 'dream PC game' — multiplayer battles in which every interesting element of combat is playable by human teammates and opponents."

In March 2004, Battlefield Vietnam was released. In 2005, a sequel set in the modern era, Battlefield 2 was released. In 2006, a sequel set in the future era, Battlefield 2142 was released. On 8 July 2009, Battlefield 1943 was released for Xbox Live Arcade and on PlayStation Network one day later. The Battlefield: Bad Company series was launched in 2008, followed by Battlefield 3, in October 2011 on EA Games' Origin network. Battlefield 4 was released in October 2013. Battlefield Hardline, a cops and robbers style battlefield, launched on 17 March 2015. Battlefield 1, a World War I based title, was released on 21 October 2016. Battlefield V was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on 20 November 2018. This was the first time since Battlefield 1943 that the series saw a return to a World War II theater of operations, and the first since Battlefield 1942 set outside the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II.

An October 2004 public release from EA noted the game's modding community.

Like Half-Life and some other popular FPS games, Battlefield 1942 spawned a number of mods. Most did not progress very far and were abandoned without ever producing a public release. Some are very limited and just include some gameplay changes or even a different loading screen while others are total conversions that modify content and gameplay extensively. A few mods have become popular and are nearly games in their own right. Early modifications of Battlefield 1942 were produced without a SDK. Later a "Mod Development Kit", Battlefield Mod Development Toolkit, was produced by EA to help the development of mods. With the release of the Battlefield 1942 sequel Battlefield Vietnam and Battlefield 2, some mods have released a new version or have continued development with that game. Battlefield Vietnam uses an updated version of the Refractor 2 game engine. Some mods have switched to the computer games Söldner: Secret Wars, Half-Life 2 while others were releasing a standalone game after completed mod development for Battlefield 1942 (Eve of Destruction - REDUX and FinnWars).

• Battlefield Interstate 1982, mentioned in 1UP "Free PC Games" December 2003 article. (Free PC Games "1UP.ORG" December 2003.)
• Battle G.I. Joe was reviewed on About.com, by Michael Klappenbach. The mod was also contacted by Hasbro for IP issues, as noted in Am I Mod or Not? (Nieborg, 2005)
• Desert Combat, produced by Trauma Studios, was winner of FilePlanet's Best Mod of 2003 Award and many other reviews and awards, such as the March 2003 PC Magazine.[citation needed] PC Gamer described it as "Desert Combat is set in the white-hot conflict zone of the Middle East and pits the United States against Iraq." Articles noted it was helped by the Iraq War, which increased the number of page views to approximately 15,000 per day, or even between 20,000 and 70,000.[citation needed] Desert Combat was pointed out as having two mods of its own, DC Extended and Desert Combat Realism in Am I Mod or Not? (Nieborg, 2005)
• Eve Of Destruction was the winner of PC Gamer 2003 Mod of the Year.[citation needed] Dan Morris of PC Gamer noted in the March 2004 issue of PC Gamer, "While Battlefield Vietnam was still a twinkle in its developers' eyes, this standout mod debuted to a rapturous reception from the Battlefield 1942 faithful."
• Experience WWII was described in PC Gamer as having substantial changes to be historically accurate that directly impacts gameplay.
• FinnWars was featured in Pelit magazine in issue 9/2005, and PC Pelaaja in 2007. FinnWars is based in Winter and Continuation Wars between Finland and the Soviet Union, as well as Lapland War between Finland and Nazi Germany.
• Forgotten Hope, a 2003 mod that aimed at a high degree of historical accuracy, was noted for including over 250 new pieces of authentic equipment (at the time more than any other World War II-themed FPS). It was awarded the Macologist Mod of the Year Award by Inside Mac Games in 2006 after the mod was ported to the Mac. It was followed by its 2006 Battlefield 2 sequel, Forgotten Hope 2.
• Galactic Conquest was noted for its permission to blatantly use Lucasarts Star Wars universe material in Am I Mod or Not? (Nieborg, 2005). It was mentioned in Edge in April 2004.
• Galactic Conquest was reviewed on TechTV's X-Play show in 2004.
• HydroRacers was reviewed in PC Zone in 2004 by Tony Lamb, and also the Madison Courier in June 2004.
• Siege was pointed out in a study by Utrecht University, both for its original concept, and its medieval warfare theme. Am I Mod or Not? (Nieborg, 2005)
• SilentHeroes won the PC ACTION-Super Mod Award in edition 07/2006 of the German gaming-magazine PC ACTION. Also, it was featured on many Norwegian and Swedish media websites, including VG, Aftonbladet and IDG.
• Who Dares Wins was reviewed in August 2005 UK edition of PC Gamer magazine and a copy of version 0.2 was distributed with the magazine on DVD-ROM to its readers.

Battlefield is a series of first-person shooter video games developed by Swedish company EA DICE and is published by American company Electronic Arts. It started out on Microsoft Windows and OS X with Battlefield 1942, which was released in 2002. The Battlefield series has been played by more than 50 million players worldwide as of 2012, across 11 games and 12 expansion packs released since its inception in 2002.

The series features a particular focus on large maps, teamwork and vehicle warfare. The PC games in the series are mainly focused on online multiplayer.

Battlefield series games usually focus on large, online multiplayer battles. Playing in squads has become a major element of games in the series. Apart from soldiers, also tanks, airplanes, and other vehicles may participate in these battles.

Since Battlefield 2, the series centrally recorded online stats for each player, allowing users to receive rank promotions and weapon unlocks based on their performance as well as awards such as medals, ribbons, and pins.

A class system is present within all the Battlefield games. Each class features a different type of primary weapon along with different equipment, differentiating roles on the battlefield.

The ability to engage other players in melee combat with a knife has been present in Battlefield games. Since Battlefield 2142, the series has included an award of dog tags for each player killed using a knife.

Since the introduction of Frostbite, almost fully destructible maps have become one of the most well-known features of the series.

Battlefield 1942 was released on September 10, 2002, using the Refractor game engine, and set in World War II. It introduced the "Conquest" gameplay mode, in which players fought for "control points" throughout the map. Two expansion packs were released.

Battlefield Vietnam, released in 2004, moved the setting to the Vietnam War, and was built on an updated Refractor engine with various gameplay improvements, such as the ability to fire personal weapons while seated in vehicles, and visualizing dense foliage.

The 2005 release Battlefield 2 takes place in the modern day, depicting a war between the United States and China and the fictional Middle Eastern Coalition (MEC). Despite requiring numerous patches due to a large number of bugs and glitches in the game upon its release, it was a large commercial success, selling more than 2,250,000 copies worldwide, by July 2006. One expansion pack, Special Forces, which added Russia, exclusive missions, and new weapons and gadgets, and two booster packs, Armored Fury (adding three new battles in the USA) and Euro Force (adding the European Union), were also released. A similar game called Battlefield 2: Modern Combat was released for consoles, with a larger single player mode but limited online play.

Battlefield 2142 was released in 2006, taking place during a global ice age in the 22nd century. While most of it is graphically similar to Battlefield 2, it introduced a variety of equipment to unlock and battles between two giant "Titan" airships. The Northern Strike expansion pack was later released, adding new maps, vehicles, and a new game mode. Its use of in-game advertising was controversial among players and not well received.

Battlefield: Bad Company, released in 2008, is set in a near-future war between the United States and Russia, and follows a US Army company's escapades and their search for hidden gold. This new Battlefield game had a variety of vehicles for land, air and sea. It had a new destruction system that allowed the player to break and destroy environments, based on a new game engine named Frostbite, which replaced the Refractor engine used in earlier releases (with the exception of Battlefield 2: Modern Combat, which used RenderWare).

In 2009, EA released two download-only games, Battlefield Heroes, a free-to-play Refractor 2 engine game, supported by advertising and micropayments and Battlefield 1943, a Frostbite engine game, released in July 2009, for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and was scheduled for release in Q1 2010, for PCs, but was cancelled.

In 2010, a sequel to Battlefield: Bad Company, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, was released, involving "B" Company's search for an electromagnetic pulse weapon. It features a larger multiplayer than its predecessor Bad Company, with updated graphics and realistic effects (e.g. bullet-drop). The game introduced the rush game mode and brought in weapons. It features a "VIP" system of content distribution where player with VIP codes gain early access to new maps. DICE also released an expansion for Bad Company 2, Battlefield: Bad Company 2: Vietnam, setting the game in the Vietnam War.

Battlefield 3 was announced in 2009, and in 2010 it was confirmed that gamers who pre-ordered Medal of Honor Limited Edition would receive Battlefield 3 forty-eight hours before the open beta was released. On February 4, 2011, the first teaser trailer for the game was revealed, with a preliminary release in the Fall of 2011. Among the features that remain in the game are Jets and the ability to go prone. The game allows 64 (on the PC) players as in all previous Battlefield titles, though the consoles allow for 24-player matches. The Battlefield 3 Beta was released on September 29, 2011. Battlefield 3 was released on October 25, 2011 and has received high review scores and has received awards from IGN.

On November 5, 2010, EASY Studios announced a follow-up to its free-to-play Battlefield Heroes, Battlefield Play4Free. EASY develops the free-to-play variants of Battlefield. Its latest offering gives players the same free-to-play pricing structure of Heroes, while still offering a more serious, core Battlefield experience (as opposed to Heroes' lighthearted, cartoon-styled environment). Battlefield Play4Free went into open beta on April 4, 2011.

Battlefield 4 was announced on March 26, 2013. On July 17, 2012, it was announced that players who pre-order Medal of Honor: Warfighter would receive access to a Battlefield 4 beta. The beta for the game began on October 1 and ended on October 15 with a full release on October 29, 2013.

Information about the next entry in the series, Battlefield Hardline, was leaked on May 27, 2014, and officially unveiled on June 9, 2014, during E3. The game was developed by Visceral Games and, unlike previous installments in the franchise, is centered around a cops-and-robbers theme.

In July 2015, CFO of EA Blake Jorgensen announced a new Battlefield title would be released in 2016. This was followed up by Dan Vaderlind, EA DICE Development Director, announcing that since Star Wars Battlefront has been released, he will now be focused on the upcoming Battlefield title. On May 6, 2016, Battlefield 1 was officially announced, with an official reveal trailer on YouTube, and was released on October 21, 2016.

In a May 2018 live reveal event it was confirmed that it the next installment would be a World War II game after several leaks suggested it would be set during this period, with the title revealed as Battlefield V. Battlefield V was released later that year on November 20, 2018 while also offering certain players early access to the game as early as November 9, 2018.

Battlefield 2042 was released on November 19, 2021. During EA's 2020/2021 Q3 earnings call it was revealed that the game will be the first to release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, utilizing their processing power to feature more players than ever in the online portion of the game. Additionally, it saw multiple innovations in multiplayer, social, and competition aspects that are new to the franchise.

After the negative reception from both audiences and critics for its bugs, glitches, crashes, and poor launch received by DICE for Battlefield 2042, Oskar Gabrielson, the general manager and long-time Battlefield veteran starting with Battlefield 3 of the studio is stepping down from the position and moving away from the Battlefield experience. Rebecka Coutaz, former Managing Director of Ubisoft Annecy, will be replacing him. Vince Zampella, chief executive officer of Respawn Entertainment and head of Ripple Effect Studios, formerly known as DICE Los Angeles will be taking on the role of "big boss", heading the Battlefield franchise as it moves forward. Along with the announcement, Marcus Lehto, former Creative Art Director of Bungie and the creator of the Master Chief of the Halo franchise along with his new studio in Seattle, funded by Electronic Arts, the same publisher who owns the Battlefield franchise will be injecting "more storytelling" into the franchise with the same name in post-launch content of Battlefield 2042 and future games in the series as part of the "Battlefield Universe", a series where it releases multiple entries interconnected with each other and carries a shared narrative.

Battlefield: Bad Company 3 was an upcoming entry into the series, a follow-up to 2010's Battlefield: Bad Company 2. General Manager of DICE, Karl-Magnus Troedsson stated in a 2014 interview with Eurogamer that the game is not in active development as the studio doesn't know what exactly fans loved about the series as there has never been a clear line of the matter and they do not want to risk destroying the series. Despite this, DICE has made it clear that they will be developing Bad Company 3 at some point.

In December 2021, Vince Zampella, the co-founder of EA's Respawn Entertainment, was placed in charge of the Battlefield franchise.

Epic Games, Inc. is an American video game and software developer and publisher based in Cary, North Carolina. The company was founded by Tim Sweeney as Potomac Computer Systems in 1991, originally located in his parents' house in Potomac, Maryland. Following his first commercial video game release, ZZT (1991), the company became Epic MegaGames, Inc. in early 1992 and brought on Mark Rein, who is the company's vice president to date. Moving their headquarters to Cary in 1999, the studio's name was simplified to Epic Games.

Epic Games develops the Unreal Engine, a commercially available game engine which also powers their internally developed video games, such as Fortnite and the Unreal, Gears of War and Infinity Blade series. In 2014, Unreal Engine was named the "most successful videogame engine" by Guinness World Records.

Epic Games owns video game developers Chair Entertainment, Psyonix, Mediatonic and Harmonix, as well as cloud-based software developer Cloudgine, and operates eponymous sub-studios in Seattle, England, Berlin, Yokohama and Seoul. While Sweeney remains the controlling shareholder, Tencent acquired a 48.4% outstanding stake, equating to 40% of total Epic, in the company in 2012, as part of an agreement aimed at moving Epic towards a games as a service model. Following the release of the popular Fortnite Battle Royale in 2017, the company gained additional investments that enabled to expand its Unreal Engine offerings, establish esport events around Fortnite, and launch the Epic Games Store. As of April 2021, the company has a US$28.7 billion equity valuation.

On August 13, 2020, Epic released a version of Fortnite that included a permanent discount on V-bucks across all platforms, but for those on iOS and Android devices, only if they purchased directly through Epic, bypassing Apple and Google's storefronts. Both Apple and Google immediately delisted the game for violating the storefronts' terms of service by including their own storefront, which led Epic to file lawsuits against both companies the same day, accusing them of antitrust behavior in how they operate their app stores.