A former employee of Electronic Arts spoke about the development of Battlefield 3 and revealed that we almost got an entirely different game.
Which Battlefield are we talking about?
- Battlefield 3 is considered one of the best Battlefields in history today and is often referred to by fans when asked: “What should the latest Battlefield be based on?”
- The shooter is appreciated for its modern, non-futuristic setting and realistic weapons and uniforms. Additionally, it features “sluggish” movement that makes you feel more like a real soldier rather than a startled squirrel.
- Many BF3 maps are considered legendary today and returned in later releases, including maps like Operation Firestorm and Métro, but also maps like Caspian Border and Noshar Canals are legendary.
The big project that never came
How was Battlefield 3 planned as an MMO? David Goldfarb, a former employee and lead designer at Electronic Arts, talked about the development of Battlefield 3 in an interview with /noclip on YouTube in the summer of 2025, among other things. He was responsible for the campaign of the game.
Goldfarb explains that Battlefield 3 originally differed significantly from how it was later released. The game, which was then under the working title “Project Venice” developed by DICE, was supposed to be more like an MMO:
Everyone was pretty much working on the “big project” that was the then BF3. However, it was a completely different BF3. It was actually more like an MMO.
– David Goldfarb in conversation with /noclip on YouTube
/noclip reports shortly thereafter that Project Venice never really took off and was ultimately canceled. Later, a team was formed that was supposed to reset Battlefield 3 and subsequently created the game as we know it today.
What happened to the remnants of the MMO project? As Goldfarb mentions later in the interview, they were able to rely on assets from Project Venice during the development of Battlefield 3.
Among the contents used was Paris, which became the setting of the sixth campaign mission “Comrades,” in which Russian soldiers must prevent the detonation of a nuclear bomb in Paris.
Meanwhile, Battlefield 6 has been released and there are again the typical Battlefield moments that many players have loved about the series for years. A corresponding clip recently took the internet by storm: The Battlefield 6 community celebrates a moment that can only happen in Battlefield: “Absolute Cinema”
