DICE recruiting PC players to test future updates for Battlefield 4

DICE is recruiting Battlefield 4 PC players to help test possible updates and fixes to the title before rolling them out on all platforms, according to a post on the Battlefield blog.

The Community Test Environment is a way for players to help DICE develop and improve the Battlefield 4 experience, the post says, and will serve as a platform for testing patches and new ideas before releasing them in full. DICE is hoping to improve the overall quality of the game by setting up this service, which it sees as a way to collect player feedback early on in the design process.

The first area DICE wants to test in the game's "Netcode," which includes player-to-player interactions within the game such as registering damage done to others. In this particular area, DICE wants to tweak the game's general networking capabilities as well as the "tickrate" of its servers.

Currently, the CTE is only open to Battlefield 4 Premium members on PC and requires download of a separate game client setup solely for testing. DICE does have plans to expand the CTE player base as it develops and hopes that, although testing will only run on PC, the program will benefit Battlefield 4 on all platforms.

Battlefield 4 launched for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PC, Xbox 360 and Xbox One last fall and has been plagued with problems since its initial launch on previous-generation consoles in October. This issues have resulted in DICE pushing numerous, frequent patches for the game on all platforms as well as the delay of some DLC.