EA's upcoming sequel to last year's well received Battlefield: Bad Company is to feature online multiplayer with up to 40 other players, according to the UK's Official Xbox Magazine: FORTY-FIED MULTIPLAYER EA hasn't yet made any announcements about the multiplayer side of the game. The only thing we know for certain is that 40 people will be able to duke it out on to servers when the sequel hits rather than Bad Company's previous player cap of 24. New game modes and plenty of maps a shoo-in however, that's what sequels are made for after all. The game is scheduled for release in North America on the 28th of September.
Source: http://www.psu.com/Battlefield--Bad-Company-2-to-have-40-player-multiplayer-News--a007041-p0.php