Battlefield Play4Free Announced by EA, Closed Beta Planned
Showing an amazing amount of creativity in both the naming and game design process, EA announced Battlefield Play4Free today. The new iteration in the Battlefield franchise will take maps from Battlefield 2, the weapon and class system from Battlefield Bad Company 2 and the micro-transaction system from Battlefield Heroes. Battlefield Heroes was EA’s previous attempt at free-to-play shooter, and it seems to have worked out quite nicely for them.
Everyone is able to play the game for free, but players can also choose to spend real money on cosmetic upgrades, weapons and items. While Heroes allowed for players to use in-game currency to buy these items as well, many complained that it was so difficult to obtain these items without spending real money, making it impossible for free players to keep up. EA suggests that Battlefield Play4Free will remain balanced whether players choose to play for free or spend money on upgrades. That’s surely interesting. We’d like to see how that meshes with EA’s overall goal of, you know, making money.
While Battlefield Play4Free certainly looks great for a free game as it moves away from the cartoonish Heroes and instead looks more like Battlefield 2, it’s certainly nowhere near as pretty as Bad Company 2. For those of you looking to get your Battlefield fix without spending any money, look no further. Just be ready to either accept the fact that others will have better weapons than you, or pony up a little bit of dough. Sign-ups for the closed beta, which will be starting November 30th, are now open. Battlefield Play4Free will be released sometime in spring 2011.
