'Battlefield 4' news: EA rolls out holiday patch

Battlefield website

Although busy with new titles, publisher Electronic Arts has not forgotten their long-running "Battlefield" franchise. The publisher has just released a holiday patch for "Battlefield 4." Meanwhile, reports suggest that the company is already starting to work on the next in the installment, tentatively dubbed "Battlefield 5."

The holiday patch is an automatic download for all "Battlefield 4" versions and is required for gamers to enjoy the title and its latest expansion DLC, Legacy Operations.

One of the highlights of the holiday update is it rolled out together with a remodeled map from previous "Battlefield" titles. According to GameSpot, the new Dragon Valley is the 2015 version of the original Dragon Valley map from "Battlefield 2. In addition, the new update also unlocks another throwback location, Noshahr Canals from "Battlefield 3."

However, the industry follower added that not every "Battlefield 4" players can enjoy the new maps. Apparently, the new maps are part of the Legacy Operations DLC pack and will not roll out for last-gen consoles.

Meanwhile, although EA and DICE were busy with their other titles, particularly the much-awaited and recently released "Star Wars: Battlefront," the collaboration seems to be preparing for another project, this time a continuation of the "Battlefield" franchise. According to PC Gamer, a tweet by DICE development director Dan Vanderlind hinted that since he was already finished with "Star Wars: Battlefront," he is being transferred to work on the next "Battlefield."

The industry follower also mentioned that Electronic Arts hinted at a new "Battlefield" title for 2016, listing the installment as part of next year's projected lineup. However, the schedule was contrary to how EA rolled out its previous franchise installments, which came every after two years – "Battlefield 3" was released in 2011, followed by "Battlefield 4" in 2013. The latest, "Battlefield: Hardline," was just released early this year.