Arma 3 getting more DLC, updates and an expansion over the next two years

Bohemia Interactive will bring a host of platform updates, more DLC and a brand new expansion to open world military shooter Arma 3 over the next two years, according to the studio's recently-released development roadmap for the title.

The post, by creative director Jay Crowe and project lead Joris-Jan van 't Land, the company's goal is to refine Arma 3's features and invest in more integration with the Steam platform, as well as continue to fully support the game with fresh content. Since its launch in Sept. 2013, Bohemia has already completed the game's three-part single-player campaign as well as launched its Zeus game master DLC.

Moving forward, each piece of DLC released for Arma 3 will focus on a specific topic and include a set of features focused on a new set of scenarios, skills and assets that will add to the full game experience. New engine features developed to support the DLC will be free to all players, but new content will be paid.

Currently, planned DLC includes Arma 3 Helicopters, which will "add appropriate depth and breadth to helicopter gameplay" and upgrade existing helicopters. Helicopters will be available in the second half of this year and Bohemia hopes to use it to enhance helicopter controlling mechanics as well. The Arma 3 Marksmen DLC will overhaul shooting mechanics and add new ranged and high calibre weapons. Marksmen will likely launch after Helicopters.

Late 2015 will bring a major expansion that Bohemia is currently not sharing too much information about. The expansion will be a "more significant package of new sandbox content and features" and add new features to the scenario editor, as well as more detail to civilian life and diversity in-game. The expansion will not be standalone and will, like Bohemia's planned DLC, bulk up the overall Arma 3 experience.

Bohemia also plans to launch a handful of platform updates over the next few months, including an extension of Steam Workshop support for mods at the end of this month. Bohemia has also been working on a Game Launcher that will organize and load mods more smoothly as well a a Bootcamp update, a tutorial-oriented feature with new content and tweaked sandbox mechanics designed to help new players jump into Arma 3.

"Although things can change, we've tried to reveal the parts we're most sure about and, of course, there's more in the works," reads the post. "Often overlapping with our own wishes and desires, we're investigating a range of features based on public feedback, which we're trying to prioritize appropriately. Alongside our goal to keep the Arma 3 platform stable, we've got to take time and resource limitations into consideration; however, where we can implement innovative and valuable ideas, we will."

Arma 3 launched via Early Access in an alpha state in March 2013, with a beta phase following in June. For more details on the full release, check out Polygon's review.