DICE is still knee-deep in bug territory when it comes to Battlefield 4. The game has been pelted in the media lately (mostly by gamers) for having lots of game-breaking bugs. Well, those bugs finally caught up with DICE and not just in the legal department, but with Mantle's API support as well.
Anandtech is reporting that AMD, DICE and Electronic Arts have come to terms of delaying the roll out of Mantle support until they iron out all of the game's pressing bugs first, writing...
“After much consideration, the decision was made to delay the Mantle patch for Battlefield 4. 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 and will have more information to share in the New Year.”
Wow, that's some terrible news for people who really wanted to see how well the low-level API from AMD would perform in one of the most visually demanding games released this year.
Mantle is basically a graphics interface base that allows developers to make use of GPUs with GCN architecture and easily and conveniently get the most out of the device. In simple terms, Mantle allows developers to optimize PC graphics card with the same sort of precision offered in the console sector. Yes, that means that high-end AMD GPUs using Mantle can be theoretically optimized to the nth degree of a console when it comes to multiplatform titles.
Mantle has also already picked up support from the likes of Activision, Eidos, Cloud Imperium Games and Oxide Games. The only thing they need now are games to actually showcase the API in action.
As for DICE and Battlefield 4... one of their biggest problems isn't showcasing AMD's latest API, but rather dealing with the fallout of three potential class-action lawsuits from angry investors gunning for the guts of Electronic Arts.
The game's bugs not only caused a delay with the support of Mantle, but glitches and hiccups in the game's release also caused a delay for the release of DLC. With the DLC put on the backburner this hurt EA's stock portfolio greatly and stockholders now feel that EA is responsible for lying to them about the potential sales success of Battlefield 4 since the company won't be selling the amount of units that they thought they were.
In addition to the delayed DLC and the Mantle patch, the game's double XP weekend has also been postponed, as reported by Game Informer, so the team can hunker down and get business straightened so there is a stable playing platform for all players.
I feel bad for DICE in this situation because we all know they are absolutely one of the most talented development studios working in the industry at the moment, and their technical expertise and software engineering capabilities are rivaled by almost no one. However, Battlefield 4's growing presence in the media for its technical faults are something that could mar the studio's name for future releases. Hopefully they can get things in order, and when they do release the patch for Mantle they can recover some of the lost-love that occurred at the hands of a rushed and early release.
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