An EA representative responded to reports that official EA and DICE servers for console versions of Battlefield 3 were being shut down and replaced by privately-run servers, telling Polygon, "DICE is not shutting down servers."

An EA representative responded to reports that official EA and DICE servers for console versions of Battlefield 3 were being shut down and replaced by privately-run servers, telling Polygon, "DICE is not shutting down servers."

Peter Van Nguyen, EA Games PR director, explained the semantic, yet important distinction, saying, "If DICE-managed servers appear unavailable, it is because they have been rented and customized by players.

"DICE will continue to add servers and will reserve a percentage of servers for players who prefer to connect through DICE-hosted servers," Nguyen added.

Though a recent Reddit Ask Me Anything thread with DICE community manager Daniel Matros included complaints from a number of players who couldn't find unaltered gametypes, Nguyen said response to custom servers has been "overwhelmingly positive." Still, he added, "We have enormous respect for the Battlefield community and are listening to the feedback. It is our #1 priority to ensure all players are having the best possible play experience."