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Visceral Games’ swansong release, Battlefield Hardline, was released to mixed results at launch. However, over the years, the fun Cops and Robbers multiplayer game has since gained a cult audience with many wishing a sequel would be developed.
In an interview with VideoGamer on an upcoming episode of the VideoGamer Podcast, Battlefield Hardline multiplayer design lead Thaddeus Sasser revealed that making a sequel would’ve been a blast with the team at Visceral. However, even if Visceral Games wasn’t closed down by EA, there was “no way” the publisher was going to sign off on a sequel.
Our world isn’t destined for Battlefield Hardline 2
Speaking to VideoGamer, Sasser explained that there were a tonne of ideas for Battlefield Hardline 2, some of which were features scrapped from the original game. However, due to the political climate at the time, and lower than expected sales, there was a very small chance that EA was going to sign off on a sequel.
“I think, you know, maybe, maybe, there is a world where that game could exist but, at the time, the political climate—if you remember there’s [the] Ferguson [shooting] and all that other bad stuff going on. It was just… too much. There was no way EA was going to do that,” Sasser explained.
While the sequel will likely never exist—at least for the foreseeable future—ideas for another stab at the cop-themed multiplayer game have been dreamed up. Developers, Sasser included, had notes for features they wanted to include in a follow-up, as well as things left on the cutting room floor that could have been spruced up.
“I would have liked to strip the Battlefield name off the front because that’s, I think, the thing that p**sed so many people off.”
BATTLEFIELD HARDLINE MULTIPLAYER LEAD THADDEUS SASSER
“I had a whole laundry list I could’ve told you specifically, in specific detail, way back in the day,” Sasser explained. “I don’t remember anymore, but essentially, like, I think the game had a really good foundation. I’d want to deliver more on kind of like some of the aspects we didn’t quite get to deliver on. You know, we had some cool earlier prototypes for the taser where the guy would actually get tased and fall down and stuff. Because of some edge-case bugs, I decided to cut that bit and I still regret doing that.”
Sasser explained that an eventual Battlefield Hardline 2 would have benefited from removing the Battlefield name from its title. While the game was built upon the bones of Battlefield 4, it was still an entirely different, more arcade-y, beast.
“I think it would have been fun, I would have liked to strip the Battlefield name off the front because that’s, I think, the thing that p**sed so many people off,” the developer explained. “Just call it ‘Hardline 2’ and now you’ve kind of got your core identity: ‘Hey, it’s a Cops and Robbers game, you don’t have tanks but you do have all these guns and all these kinds of gadgets and so on’.
The Future of Battlefield
Following the release of Battlefield Hardline’s DLC, Sasser left Visceral Games shortly before its closure by EA. Nowadays, the multiplayer lead is now the game director of NetEase’s upcoming Marvel Rivals—check out our interview with him about that right here.
However, the Battlefield series is still ongoing. Despite the failure of Battlefield 2042, a new game in the series is in the works at mainline developer DICE. Returning to a modern warfare setting, the game will be a bold return to form for the series.
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