It’s been a long requested feature, and we are happy to announce that Spectator Mode will definitely appear in Battlefield 4! If you’ve watched our multiplayer live stream from E3, you’ve already seen an early version of it in action. In this post, we give you some added detail and answers to this upcoming feature.

In our EA press conference on June 10 at E3, we announced that Spectator Mode would definitely be coming to Battlefield 4. The cheers from the crowd as we made the announcement was amazing — we knew you’d be excited, but we’ve been quite frankly blown away by the community response! Now, we’re here to answer your questions and give you some added detail about this core feature.

First, one reminder: Spectator Mode (like Battlefield 4 itself) is still in pre-alpha stage. This means that we are still working on its design, implementation, and function.

If you joined our multiplayer booth live stream from E3 yesterday, you’ve already seen some amazing unedited “Siege of Shanghai” multiplayer gameplay and an early version of our Spectator Mode in action.

For us, the proof is in the game, so we wanted to make sure we could share true 64-player match and a first glimpse of Spectator Mode. What we are showing at E3 is only a preview of what’s in store, though. Spectator Mode will play a pivotal role in our support of the competitive gaming scene, and we also recognize that many players will use it to make great “Only in Battlefield” videos, analyze the game, learn how to become better players, and seeing the “Only in Battlefield” moments in great Battlefield 4 matches. We are continuing to develop Spectator Mode with all of these functions in mind.

We’ve still got a way to go before Spectator Mode is finished, but we knew that you would give us some of the most important feedback we could receive — that’s one of the reasons we love going to these shows. Below, we are addressing some of the questions and comments we’ve received on Spectator Mode so far.

Battlefield 4 Siege of Shanghai Vertical Combat. Click for full size.

Let us know what you think in the comments below. Looking forward to two more days of live streaming straight from our multiplayer booth at E3!

What’s up with the different colors on objectives and soldiers?
The current implementation in Spectator Mode quickly helps spectators identify the two teams (one will always be blue, the other always red). This can be different from a gamer’s first-person view has a different and more granular color coding, where green means squad mate, blue is team mate, and red means enemy. We’re working to implement a color-coding system that will be both consistent and recognizable to bring continuity between matches.

What is the yellow menu bar at the top of the Spectator Mode view?
This is a placeholder design that will be changed in the final code. It will change based upon which player you are spectating in order to help give you instant perspective on the Battlefield.

I saw some glitches in Spectator Mode — What is up with that?
Large parts of Spectator Mode and Battlefield 4 itself are still in early development. It is inevitable that pre-alpha code will have some artifacts like this. The final product will be optimized, but we wanted to give you a first look at what we have in store for you.

One of our main goals with showing Spectator Mode this early is to gather valuable community feedback, so please let us know what you think. Submit your feedback in the comments below or let us know what you think on the official Battlefield Twitter, Facebook, and Battlelog forums.

Two more days of Battlefield 4 live streaming coming up! Don’t miss our unedited gameplay from the epic “Siege of Shanghai” multiplayer map where you can take down an entire skyscraper.

Head to the Battlefield Blog for all the latest updates straight from E3, including videos, screenshots, daily recaps, and more.