"The hardcore mode has been designed as an answer to a community request," Ubisoft community developer Atmon wrote on the game's official forums. "Some players were seeking and expecting a more realistic experience. "

The changes will be available in every multiplayer mode, bringing:

• A new damage model will be applied with increased damage for all weapons.
• All weapons have been rebalanced on normal mode, and on hardcore mode.
• Enemy names will disappear after the spawning invincibility period is over (A shield is displayed above a player’s head for a few second to show that he is invincible).
• A new option will allow you to tweak spawning time (but not spawning rate).
• A new search option will be available in multiplayer to allow you to find games that are playing on hardcore mode.

No word yet as to when the actual patch will arrive.