Gaming Union talks with Fredrik Liliegren, the CEO of DICE from 1988 to 2000, and Studio Manager of DICE Canada from 2001 to 2006 about Battlefield 3.

Gaming Union: How do you think the Battlefield series has developed since you left DICE?

Liliegren: Well I knew that they were going to the console route because the numbers on the PC where dwindling. I know what they were talking about on the PC side for [the next] Battlefield, and they haven't announced any of that yet, after three years, so I know what's coming, and I still can't talk about it because I'm still under NDA (non-disclosure agreement).

I mean Battlefield Heroes is something that we talked about back when even Jeff [Evans] was working at DICE, in regards of taking Battlefield into a micro-transaction type model. We actually worked on that initial prototype for that here in Canada, just to see how we would split it up from a design standpoint.

I think for the console side, the first outing on [Xbox] 360 and PS2 and Xbox was really weak because we didn't have a single player experience. I think that Bad Company 2 is going to be really good because I think these guys are really smart and they learned the lesson. What the PC version is going to be, Battlefield 3, I think it's going to absolutely blow everyone away, but I can't tell you what it is, but it will blow people away.

GU: Even after 3 years?

Liliegren: That's why it's going to blow people away, because it's not Modern Warfare 2 PC, it's not that experience.

Considering Liliegren no long works for DICE, his opinion of the game is likely a lot more honest than you'd hear from any current executive. DICE has themselves confirmed that they've been developing Battlefield 3 for some years.

After the purchase of DICE by Electronic Arts in 2006, EA closed the DICE Canada studio. Instead of moving back to Sweden to once again helm DICE, Liliegren formed a new studio, Antic Entertainment. Make sure to check out our interview with Liliegren and his team about their new studio.