Well… it has finally happened… If you are a long-time Battlefield player, you have been talking about it with your friends since Battlefield Vietnam was released; and then you talked about it more when Battlefield 2 was released, and then you continued to pray for it when Battlefield 2142 was released.

The day is finally here: DICE announced today that a brand new updated and revamped WWII Battlefield game is going to be released, with updated graphics and game play, and it will be called Battlefield 1943.The news of the Battlefield 1943’s pending release has rocked the Battlefield community with a force that we don’t believe even DICE could have expected.

The new game will build upon the things that were great about the original Battlefield 1942, but improved and updated, while at the same time being powered by the new Frostbite engine. When Battlefield 1943 is released it will only be available for download, on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and the PC platforms. The game itself will be focused on classic game play with a maximum  of 12 players per side, with conquest game play mode only with a total of 3 classic maps (Including Wake Island!) and 5 capture points per side.

The game will not have unlocks, so you will have different classes and all of the weapons right from the start. The game download should be in the 350MB range and is expected to be delivered this summer; so we can only guess that 1943 has been in development for some time.

In addition to the announcement of the release of Battlefield 1943, it was also announced, as we told you yesterday, that Battlefield Bad Company 2 is also in development, and we are also proud to now confirm that it will be making its way to the PC this time around in addition to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

The future for the Battlefield franchise does look at bit brighter today and the community at large has to be excited about the prospect of Battlefield 1943. We suspect that if well done, 1943 could give DICE the push that it needs to continue additional expansion of 1943 with additional maps beyond the 3 that will be delivered with the game when it releases.