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EA to release free, online-only 'Battlefield Heroes'
Filed under: PC, Online


That would be the modern definition of "free," mind you, the one that means you pay nothing unless you want to equip your avatar with a particularly snazzy hat. Or beret, as it is in the case of EA's newly revealed Battlefield Heroes, a continuation of the popular Battlefield franchise sans gritty atmosphere and retail package. BBC News reveals that the game will be distributed online only and supported through advertising (a la Quake Zero) and micro payments.

Counting on the cheap cost of entry (reminder: nothing) and a new cartoon-like aesthetic to airdrop the masses into Battlefield, developer DICE reckons you'll "be able to play this game on Grandma's laptop." Said Ben Cousins, senior producer at DICE: "We're removing all barriers to entry and we hope there is broader audience for the title."

Cousins noted that adverts will never appear in the game itself ("They wouldn't work inside the fictional world.") and that micro purchases would be limited to players' appearance and not their weaponry. In fact, EA expects 95% of players not to spend any money at all. So, why bother? "If you look at Korea and Asia this is a model that works," said Cousins. "Given the enormous explosion in web-based gaming products, this is going to be a real source of growth in the industry and Battlefield Heroes is the first step towards doing that in [the] West."

Expect it to leave a footprint on your hard drive in Summer 2008.

[Thanks, Rich]

Read -- BBC News
Read -- Official Battlefield Heroes websitePermalink | Email this | Comments

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Author: Ludwig Kietzmann
Category: BattlefieldBattlefield-HeroesBreakingNewsDICEDigital-distributionEAShooter
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Source: Joystiq
Description: Joystiq

Anyone else thinking EA are missing the point and trying to cash in on the win of TEEF?

Also, surely they could just release 1942 for free? that'll run on a wet sock.

Yeah, it does just seem like this is the obvious end result of someone at EA/DICE thinking "TEEF IS CARTOONY. TEEF IS LOVED."

But it's free, so can't complain. Though it <s>probably has</s> does have advertising or some shit. (I should actually read things before I reply, really)

News Reader wrote: EA to release free, online-only 'Battlefield Horses'

Yes please.

Advertising and "micro"payments. EA think it's the future.

I would prefer a future where other companies look a little bit more closely at what Valve are doing with their content distribution, pricing models, the value given to their customers and the community reaction, rather than just aping the design of one of their games.

Dr. kitteny berk wrote:Anyone else thinking EA are missing the point and trying to cash in on the win of TEEF?

This is exactly what I'm thinking. The timing even works out, from the release of TF2 to now is a decent amount of time for DICE to make a cheapo cartoon beef game.

Hmm, I bet they'll use this as a way to horse that EA link crap on people.

FatherJack wrote:Advertising and "micro"payments. EA think it's the future.

I would prefer a future where other companies look a little bit more closely at what Valve are doing with their content distribution, pricing models, the value given to their customers and the community reaction, rather than just aping the design of one of their games.

All of this

Also, how are these adverts gonna work if they're not in the game itself?
My first guess would be on all the loading screens, as just sticking a billion adverts on the download page wouldn't work, as you'd only use it once.

I envisaged a server browser the size of a postage stamp, surrounded by dozens of banner ads.

spoodie wrote:I envisaged a server browser the size of a postage stamp, surrounded by dozens of banner ads.

With "This server is brought to you today by: ba-da-ba-ba-baaa, I'm loving it, Burger King" prefixed on every server name.

FatherJack wrote: With "This server is brought to you today by: ba-da-ba-ba-baaa, I'm loving it, Burger King" prefixed on every server name.

Still, at least it wont be as bad as the BF2 browser.

Well, the thought of even more cartoony running around is making me burn cartoony calories, random slabs of mechanically recovered meat in sugar bread might just be the thing to sort out the energy I need.

In game billboards offering cartoony versions of real life stuff would actually be quite novel, but no doubt any implementation of in game adverts will be realistic and ruin any sense of immersion into the cartoon world.

HereComesPete wrote: but no doubt any implementation of in game adverts will be realistic and ruin any sense of immersion into the cartoon world.

or, they could do what they did in 2142.

ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY YEARS IN THE FUTURE, BUY A CORE 2 DUO THAT'S SLIGHTLY SLOWER THAN THE ONE YOU HAVE.

plastered all over the place.

To be fair though, I didn't feel that my gameplay was violated by EA in regard to the in-game advertising.

hur hur hur, violated.

Killavodka wrote:To be fair though, I didn't feel that my gameplay was violated by EA in regard to the in-game advertising.

That'll be the ATI, probably couldn't even render the ads.


Personally, having played 2142 from the very first beta (when it was fansites and such only) I found that the addition of billboards etc impeded my view, ruined some of my favourite spots and above all, ruined the feel of the game, originally it felt very desolate and empty, like something bad had/was happening, the addition of billboards and such just, well, didn't work for me.

first thing I saw was a teef rip off

Dr. kitteny berk wrote:ruined some of my favourite spots

Were you playing the game or just having a picnic?

Killavodka wrote:Were you playing the game or just having a picnic?

Some of the spots were good for camping, there were a couple where you could park a tank behind trees and hurl shells into a capture point.

I don't/didn't have any problems with the billboards. They were even useful on certain maps to hide behind on foot when up against vehicles.