Battlelog developer bought by EA, will "focus all of its energy" on the Battlefield series

Expect to see lots more of Battlelog in the coming years. EA have bought ESN the company who built Battlefield 3's browser based stat tracking/social network/game launcher site. Gamasutra highlight a statement from the company suggesting that they'll be hunkering down with DICE for a while to "focus all of its energy on DICE, Battlelog and the Battlefield series."

The move dovetails nicely with EA's determination to add an online component to every game they ship, whether that be a multiplayer mode, or a series of apps and social services that exist in parallel with each game. Need for Speed's autolog system is another example. EA's Frank Gibeau recently pointed out that “today, all of our games include online applications and digital services that make them live 24/7/365.”

Battlelog's stat tracking tech works well, but it's still a clunky, shoddy way to get into a game, especially if you're trying to do it with a squad of friends. Backing out of the game with every server switch is also a pain. Hopefully the version that ships with Battlefield 4 next year will deliver a much smoother experience.

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Part of the UK team, Tom was with PC Gamer at the very beginning of the website's launch—first as a news writer, and then as online editor until his departure in 2020. His specialties are strategy games, action RPGs, hack ‘n slash games, digital card games… basically anything that he can fit on a hard drive. His final boss form is Deckard Cain.