We’re classing this as a rumour for now, pending official confirmation from EA, but it’s looking pretty likely: a tweet from Johan Andersson, a developer at DICE, has revealed that the Frostbite 2 engine used in the upcoming Battlefield 3 (our 58th most anticipated game of 2011) will support neither the ageing Windows XP or DirectX 9.
“Frostbite 2 is primarily developed for DX11,” reads the tweet. “XP & DX9 is _not_ supported, 64-bit OS is recommended. Lots of time to upgrade if you havent!” Whilst it’s not an official announcement, coming from a developer on the team does make it seem pretty certain.
Whilst Windows XP is now not far off a decade old, and has since been usurped by two major releases of the operating system, the Steam hardware survey from December shows that a good 25% of gamers that use the service still use it, although that figure is steadily declining (down from around 35% in July).
In terms of DirectX, version 10 was introduced with Windows Vista, followed by 11 with Windows 7, although a compatible graphics card is also required. Once more, referring to the Steam hardware survey, figures from May show that about 57% of users have DirectX 10-compatible systems, with just 5.6% on DirectX 11. Whilst many games in the last couple of years have had DirectX 10- and 11-specific additional effects, Battlefield 3 will be only the second (after Shattered Horizon) to specifically require version 10 or higher.
Battlefield 3 is likely to be revealed at some point at or before the Game Developer Conference 2011 at the end of March, where a number of technical panels about the game will take place, and this rumour will likely be confirmed or denied. EA’s CEO John Riccitiello recently confirmed in an interview that the game will be out towards the end of 2011.
Redh3lix
I shopped around at places like DELL and PC World for my new PC and was instantly told to STFU by my gaming friend. He recommended (and now I do!) : http://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/
I got an infinitely more powerful PC for the SAME money as a much lower end spec PC from Dell or PC World etc.
If like me you’re not techy enough to build your own, I highly recommend these people. I had a little trouble with delivery, but they were very supportive and sorted it ASAP.
Slevin
Pros & Cons on both, still cant get to grips with mouse & keyboard though.Think i’ll stick to PS3 :)
JoshHood
If anyone is looking for a reliable, cheap, custom PC site by the way, I used http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk.
beeje13
I used to fantasise on that site lol, and its not cheap, cheapest is £300 and for that you get basic evrything, I could build my own and it would be half the price. The site concept is a good idea though, thhe pricing just isn’t right.
DJ Judas
It’s a shame that DICE have taken steps to avoid coding for XP, but I’m glad they have:
I love the Battlefield games, 2142 being my favourite, but DICE have had issues with development for such a long time that by cutting XP out of the frame the’ll have less trouble making a glitch-free game on release.
The medic-defib bug that brings you back to life as another class has existed since BF2, it was in 2142 and is in BF:BC2 (didn’t play BC1). The relative clunkiness of BF games adds to their charm, but if removing the ageing XP helps them create a bug free experience then I’m all for it.
DJ Judas
Just to add, you really don’t need to be ‘techie’ to build your own PC, just buy all the parts and slotting them together is easy as pie, much easier and less daunting than you’d think, and it results in a profound admiration of your new baby that you just don’t get from a stock machine.
cc_star
eBay shops (not sellers, shops) are even cheaper than building your own, and it’s already done for you
driftingforlife
if you are looking for parts or a pre-built system use SCAN, they are the best!!!
http://www.scan.co.uk/Shop/Computer-Hardware
jediryan123
its my belief that steam single-handedly saved pc gaming.
JoshHood
Completely agree.
Redh3lix
Agree. Publishers and developers have attempted to curb the rate of piracy themselves (let’s face it, piracy is the reason for PC gaming’s decline), such as employing particularly intrusive software into their games or even removing aspects of a game you’d expect such as LAN support etc.
I’ve noticed since my four year break that STEAM has come on leaps and bounds since it first launched. It’s a much better application now.
Xenoliath
Looking forward to Battlefield 3. Provided this does release in the later end of 2011, I reckon it’ll defeat this year’s Call of Duty, because it likely won’t be MW3, as the game is coming from Sledgehammer. We’ll see.
uber-BARBIE
lol still im sticking to ps3. if it dies then thats what i paid more for was the 5 years insurance i got right ;D
ElGuason
man that’s crazy i mean there’s a lot of people using xp still that’s gonna hurt them i think.