Battlefield 3 Console Cuts

Speaking to Gamezone (via CVG), DICE head Patrick Bach said the console versions of Battlefield 3 will restrict the number of players allowed in multiplayer, down from 64 on PC to just 24. 

"The biggest difference between the PC and console version of Battlefield 3 is that we have 64 players on PC and 24 players maximum on console," Bach said. "The rest is more or less the same: we use the same engine, the same technology, the same animation system, the same lighting system. Our aim is to give the player the exact same experience and not try to dumb down the console version. 

"If you want the same quality of game, I would say it's really, really hard. We tried to get more players in [to the console version] but then you need to scale down all the graphics, scale down all the destructibility, and sometimes you need to scale down all the map sizes. Everything is a compromise on: where do you cut? 

"You could argue that other games do [fewer] players as well. There are games that do less, and there are games that do more. We don't see games that have more players as a better experience, so having more players per se doesn't automatically give you a better experience." 

Bach also outlined the differences in the game's maps between console and PC. 

"More or less. When we say they are smaller, it's not that we have cut them in half. But we tried to compact them slightly to keep the action up. If you compare it to Battlefield: Bad Company 2, the maps weren't really small on console. We actually had huge maps even for console. We have the same kind of angle on it right now [in Battlefield 3]. 

We want to create the same experience for PC as for consoles."