*April Fool* EA-only dedicated servers for Battlefield 4

Speaking during a post-GDC 2013 interview, DICE community manager Daniel “zh1nt0″ Matros has said that Battlefield 4 will not be using dedicated servers operated by third-party gaming service providers. Matros explained that EA will deploy, operate, and maintain servers across all major regions.

One of the reasons for doing this is to manage the new Battlefield community platform, Battlelog 2.0, that is being developed alongside the game. Matros said that this is being designed to keep the Battlefield 4 experience as uniform as possible for all players, and provide a persistent gameplay stats measure.

Battlelog 2.0 also aims to eliminate hackers by handling certain key multiplayer calculations on the server side. There will apparently be a far more robust system in place for identifying and banning any users who attempt to run hacks on Battlefield 4.

When pressed about custom match modes and clan servers, Matros explained that players will be able to purchase game servers through EA on which they can customise modes or set up for clan practice. Although the custom options will be robust, certain configurations will mean that match stats do not get recorded. Region-specific pricing structure on rentals will be announced closer to launch, said Matros.

At this stage it is not clear how South Africa will be served by EA for Battlefield 4, and we await comment from EA SA when they return to work on Tuesday (2 April 2013).

What do you think of this new system for Battlefield 4 from EA? Good idea to make gameplay experiences uniform, or a death knell for the game in South Africa?