EA, AMD delay Battlefield 4 Mantle support patch
January 2, 2014 | 09:22
Companies: #amd #dice #ea #electronic-arts
AMD and Electronic Arts have been forced to delay a planned update to Battlefield 4 which would add support for the Mantle low-level application programming interface (API) as the publisher struggles to address more pressing issues with the game.
The DICE-developed and EA-published Battlefield 4 has had something of a troubled launch. Despite promising that numerous bugs had been squashed in the beta, the game launched with plenty of issues still extant - even ignoring a claimed DDoS attack against its servers. Although its multiplayer component reviewed well, players soon found various game-breaking bugs that forced DICE to halt development of expansion packs until they could be fixed. The problems proved so serious, in fact, that investors are attempting to sue EA - an attack the company has dismissed as 'meritless.'
The ongoing issues have had an effect on more than the release dates of various content packs, however: EA has been forced to delay a planned patch to add support for AMD's new Mantle API while DICE continues its bug-fixing campaign. Announced back in September, Mantle promises a significant performance boost over plain-old DirectX and OpenGL for games that choose to implement it - with the caveat, naturally, that the optimisation will only have an effect on AMD graphics hardware. Battlefield 4 was one of AMD's first big Mantle wins, and to have the support - originally planned for release in December as a free update to the PC port - delayed will be a blow for the company.
'After much consideration, the decision was made to delay the Mantle patch for Battlefield 4,' AMD has confirmed in a statement to press. 'AMD continues to support DICE on the public introduction of Mantle, and we are tremendously excited about the coming release for Battlefield 4. We are now targeting a January release,' the company added without providing a firm launch window.
According to a statement provided by an unnamed AMD spokesperson to Polygon, the reason for the delay is simple: 'The cause of the delay is due [sic] to EA's recent decision to halt [further] game development in favour of bug stomping.'
The DICE-developed and EA-published Battlefield 4 has had something of a troubled launch. Despite promising that numerous bugs had been squashed in the beta, the game launched with plenty of issues still extant - even ignoring a claimed DDoS attack against its servers. Although its multiplayer component reviewed well, players soon found various game-breaking bugs that forced DICE to halt development of expansion packs until they could be fixed. The problems proved so serious, in fact, that investors are attempting to sue EA - an attack the company has dismissed as 'meritless.'
The ongoing issues have had an effect on more than the release dates of various content packs, however: EA has been forced to delay a planned patch to add support for AMD's new Mantle API while DICE continues its bug-fixing campaign. Announced back in September, Mantle promises a significant performance boost over plain-old DirectX and OpenGL for games that choose to implement it - with the caveat, naturally, that the optimisation will only have an effect on AMD graphics hardware. Battlefield 4 was one of AMD's first big Mantle wins, and to have the support - originally planned for release in December as a free update to the PC port - delayed will be a blow for the company.
'After much consideration, the decision was made to delay the Mantle patch for Battlefield 4,' AMD has confirmed in a statement to press. 'AMD continues to support DICE on the public introduction of Mantle, and we are tremendously excited about the coming release for Battlefield 4. We are now targeting a January release,' the company added without providing a firm launch window.
According to a statement provided by an unnamed AMD spokesperson to Polygon, the reason for the delay is simple: 'The cause of the delay is due [sic] to EA's recent decision to halt [further] game development in favour of bug stomping.'
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