DICE defends Battlefield 3 beta from critics

The beta build released as part of Battlefield 3's open testing should not be taken as indicative of the finished game, DICE has said.

Writing on DICE's Battlefield Blog, Karl Magnus Troedsson took the opportunity to defend the beta from recent criticism of its unpolished state.

"The Battlefield 3 Open Beta is based on software that is more than one month old," he wrote.

"Just like normal procedure when releasing a game, the Open Beta has had long lead times due to testing, certification, and setting up. This means that the code you are now playing is actually quite early and not representative of the final game."

Troedsson said DICE needs the beta to test its dedicated server structure - not the game code itself - and as such, could an older build of the game.

Despite the criticisms, the beta is proving hugely popular. According to post, the Battlefield 3 beta has drawn six times as many simultaneous players as Bad Company 2 managed during its own open testing phase in 2009. The popularity of Bad Company 2 no doubt contributed to pre-release interest in the game, but DICE must be pretty chuffed anyway.

Battlefield 3 releases later this month on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Thanks, Joystiq.