"With the huge success of the PS3 Beta we decided to drastically increase the PC Beta's capacity to insure as many people as possible could participate," wrote Van Dyke. "Unfortunately this meant we had to delay the Beta to very early next year giving us more planning time to make it happen and implement more optimizations."

To lift PC gamers' spirits, Van Dyke offered a summary of "PC Enhanced Features" including support for joysticks, dedicated servers with up to 32 players and DirectX 11.

• Up to 32 Players on PC (24 on consoles) - Play with up to 32 players online in the biggest multiplayer Maps in Battlefield. Each with a different tactical and gameplay focus set across a variety of environments.
• Full DirectX 9, 10 & 11 Support - Immerse yourself in the Battlefield world as Frostbite engine brings tanks, helicopters and explosions to vivid life on your PC. The game will fully support Windows XP, Vista, and 7 with new tech that further improves things like lighting and shadows.
• Enhanced Gameplay - The PC version also includes wide peripheral support like Joysticks for flying, NVIDIA 3D Vision, Logitech LCD Keyboards and VoIP Support plus a variety of specific features tailored for PC play.
• Friend Support - Find your friends online with the new buddy list to see if and who is online so you can quickly join their game.
• Dedicated Ranked Server - Everyone gets non-stop action with no connection penalties based on some other player's internet. Ranked Server Provider program will give players opportunity to rent their own server(s) located in professional grade datacenters, ability to modify settings like map rotation, create reserved slots for friends or clan members, kick & Ban players, and custom name your ranked server.
• Clan Support & Private Servers - Independent Clan Tag, and ability to rent servers for hosting and controlling private password protected competitive servers with expanded control over the settings from public ranked servers.
• PC Squad Play System - Updated from previous Battlefield PC titles now gives control of your squad before heading into combat.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 hits PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on March 2, with six instant multiplayer unlocks for pre-ordering. A PlayStation 3 beta is currently underway.

Thanks to Just_do_it_ffs for the heads up.