Battlefield 3?

[Gorion]

A leaked report from an alleged anonymous investor claims to cite the first details in the popular Battlefield series published by EA and developed by DICE.

Battlefield 3 will apparently be returning to the modern setting of Battlefield 2, with a particular map titled "Baghdad Burning," with the only two playable factions consisting of NATO and the Middle Eastern Coalition - now that is bound to start inciting flag-burning controversy if it turns out to be well-founded.

Though only Windows Vista and OS X are listed as supported operating systems, will they really have the guts to leave XP users (and there are A LOT of those...) hanging dry. The game will supposedly use the "Frostbite DX" engine, apparently a version of the same engine used in the upcoming Battlefield: Bad Company. In-game replay and recording features are cited as possible additions.

Allegedly the game will ship with 8 maps, supporting up to 80 players total in online play. Online stat tracking and awards will be taken further with a new "Soldier" feature, which will allow for avatars to be designed from scratch. The gameplay mechanics appear to be similar to earlier games in the series, with a full feature list of five playable classes (Sniper, Assault, Engineer, Medic, Support), 48 vehicles, and 34 weapons.

The official announcement is allegedly set for January 2008, along with a tentative public beta scheduled for next summer. EA have yet to deny or confirm. More later as is uncovered.