Battlefield Hardline is now coming in early 2015, while Dragon Age: Inquisition has moved to November 18.
DICE VP Karl Magnus Troedsson published a surprisingly lengthy blog explaining the delay, citing feedback from the recent beta for the Visceral Games-developed spin-off. The studio also outlined what it hopes to address with the additional development time:
"1. Multiplayer Innovation: Coming out of our E3 beta, internal focus tests, and work with our community, we have received a lot of great Multiplayer thinking. We’re going to be adding some new feature ideas direct from the community that will evolve the cops and criminals fantasy into a truly unique Battlefield Multiplayer experience.
2. Single Player Story Depth: In order to ensure our Single Player experience delivers on player expectations, we’re spending more time polishing our core features, as well as adding a few new ones that will support a deeper “crime revenge” story experience.
3. Stability: This has been a focus for our team since day one and we’re going to be using the extra time to continue to optimize the game for a stable launch. We have learned a lot from Battlefield 4, are continuing to learn from our Community Test Environment and will learn more from another Hardline beta. More time allows us to surface issues that the team can attempt to fix prior to launch."
It's unclear when Battlefield Hardline will actually be released, but prior to the end of March is a good bet.
Dragon Age executive producer Mark Darrah was much less specific in talking about today's other delay, sticking to the tried-and-true explanation that even a few weeks will help with additional polish. Dragon Age: Inquisition had been set for release on October 7, which means it's not a particularly substantial change.
"I’m privileged to be a part of a team that has been working very hard to surpass every measure they’ve set for themselves. That has meant completing huge amounts of game content, fixing bugs both big and small, and improving the overall experience. This last bit of time is about polishing the experience we want you to see. Ensuring that our open spaces are as engaging as possible. Strengthening the emotional impact of the Hero's choices. And ensuring the experience you get is the best it can be in the platform you choose to play on."
To be honest, I'm not particularly upset there's one less game to play in October. It's already packed!