DICE: Primary Battlefield 3 build doesn't contain beta bugs

The rough edges of the Battlefield 3 beta had already been smoothed in the core build before the test code saw the light of day, DICE has revealed.

"It wasn't like when things surfaced in the beta we were caught by surprise and started fixing the main game," creative director Lars Gustavsson told Destructoid at the EB Games Expo this weekend.

"The main game was more or less done. It was more validating what we knew. We just checked our lists of already implemented fixes and said 'Yeah, yeah we know about that one' or 'Oh yeah, that old one.'"

Not that the beta was a waste of time; as well as testing its multiplayer architecture, DICE did record important results.

"There were things we found. The pace of scoring, that people were scoring so quick took us by surprise. A lot of good findings that will make it a better experience," Gustavsson explained.

The Battlefield 3 beta came under heavy criticism; DICE has since defended it several times, saying players misunderstand what a beta is, and pointing out the code used is an old build.

Gustavsson commented that rather than rushing to meet launch date, DICE has "exceeded" his expectations with the game and intends to continue the developer's tradition of long post-launch support.

"We have an operations team that has been working since before the beginning of the year with potential post-launch content and plans," he said.

"If you know DICE from earlier titles, we keep going along the life cycle of a title. So six months from now, it's just the beginning of a long relationship."

As to what form this support will take, last week DICE said it has "massive plans" for DLC.

Battlefield 3 releases next week on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.