Battlefield 4: Second Assault trailer released, meanwhile EA say annualising the franchise could destroy it

Turns out the Second Assault this new Battlefield 4 DLC is referring to is one of trailers, videos and reveals. DICE have been particularly coy about releasing much info - even a proper release date - for the map-pack, instead teasing out details over the last few weeks and months. Here's the latest trailer, which tours through each of the four "fan-favourite" maps, and gives a look at the Capture The Flag mode. Its destructive bombast can accompany you through the news that EA have no plans to increase the series' release frequency, for fear that they would "destroy the franchise".

The comment was made by EA CFO Blake Jorgensen, who, as reported by Gamespot , was asked about annualisation at the UBS Global Technology Conference.

"The challenges are you've got to most likely do it out of two studios because it's hard, it's a two-year project," Jorgensen said. "Battlefield takes us about two years to develop and so you want to make sure that you're sharing talent across studios, so you keep core talent of the product and the experience for the consumer there."

Another issue, said Jorgensen, is ensuring that every new release is a marked difference from its predecessor. I'm going to give you a moment to recover from that sentence.

"You also want to be really careful that you don't destroy the franchise along the way. You've got to make it exciting and different, but at the same time you want to make sure you maintain a great franchise," Jorgensen said, one can only assume with a straight face.

Then there's the call of Premium. Essentially, Jorgensen explains, an annual release cycle would take away from the post-release DLC cycle, and the value of Premium. "Battlefield is a product that doesn't just sell once," he said; "it sells for 24 months associated with not just Battlefield, but all the additional Battlefield Premium activities that the consumer wants. So you've got to be careful that you don't destroy some of that tail that is on the Battlefield product."

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.