The release of the Call of Duty: Ghosts’ multiplayer trailer may be the biggest piece of news for first-person shooter at the moment, but DICE and EA are determined to make sure Battlefield 4 doesn’t stray too far from the spotlight. It was announced that a new map and mode will livestream during Gamescom and yesterday the developer and publisher dropped some news that should give fans of the Battlefield franchise even more incentive to pick up the military shooter this October.
DICE confirmed that players who pick up the game on Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 will be able to carry over their stats to the next-gen consoles. The transfers will only work from Xbox 360 to Xbox One or PlayStation 3 to PlayStation 4. No crossing the streams, folks.
Players who can handle that restriction will be able to bring over their stats, unlocks, and rank to their Xbox One or PlayStation 4. EA and DICE went on to confirm the return of the Premium membership for Battlefield 4, which will also carry over with a next-gen console upgrade.
Whether you are playing on Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, we want to make your transition to next-generation consoles easy. That is why today we are informing the devoted Battlefield community that all the time and effort you spend building up your Battlefield 4 stats will carry over when you upgrade from the Xbox 360 to Xbox One and from the PlayStation 3 to PlayStation 4.
In similar console transition news, Microsoft has announced a new program that will allow Xbox One owners the ability to transfer their Xbox 360 Season Pass content to the next-gen console free of additional charges.
Only participating Xbox 360 titles will be eligible for transfer under the Xbox One Season Guarantee program, but Microsoft has already announced that some of its biggest publishers are signing on. EA, Activision, and Ubisoft are all confirmed as participants in the program.
In the coming months, Microsoft will continue to announce publishers and titles that are participating in the Season Guarantee program. Activision and EA have confirmed that Season Pass content for Call of Duty: Ghosts and Battlefield 4 will carry over over from Xbox 360 to Xbox One, but no other specific titles were confirmed. Both CoD: Ghosts and the upcoming Battlefield sequel hold spots on the top five most pre-ordered games the year list, so it makes sense that they are getting some early attention.
As the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 launches get closer, consumers can expect to learn more and more about how the details of the console transition will work. Earlier this week, Microsoft outlines some of the details about cross-console game chat… Or the lack thereof. Although a vocal segment of the video game community is still unhappy with the majority of Xbox One news, some folks, including industry pro Peter Molyneux, think Microsoft is getting a fair shake.
It seems apparent that plenty of measures are being taken to facilitate a smooth transition to next-gen consoles for gamers. Hopefully, the list of supported titles in the Season Guarantee continues to grow in the coming months. At this point, there is no confirmation of plans for a similar season pass transfer program for the PlayStation 4.
Battlefield 4 will be available on PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 on October 29. Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions will be available when the consoles launch.
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