EA has just announced a new installment of DICE's Battlefield series. It's called Battlefield Heroes, and it's yet another World War 2 first person shooter...but wait a minute, it's a cartoony game. Hmm, I wonder where EA got that brilliant idea from. Regardless of whether or not they totally ripped off Valve's style, it's pretty cool to see that they are trying something new in the WW2 FPS genre.
However, the biggest news about this game is that EA is doing something that could change the game industry as we know it. They are going to be giving the game away for free! THAT'S RIGHT! EA IS PUBLISHING A GAME FOR FREE! How will it be funded though? Well, it will make use of every gamer's favorite new gaming trends: in-game advertising and microtransactions. The exact nature of the in-game ads and the microtransactions are unknown at this time, but I wouldn't be shocked if EA charged you for bullets. Hopefully it will be at least pretty well featured without having to download or pay for any add-on content. The other huge concern I have about the game is that they are saying "Battlefield Heroes™, an all-new Play 4 Free cartoon-style shooter that will bring classic Battlefield gameplay to an all new mass audience." I just hope that advanced gamers will be able to enjoy it too.
And apparently, this is only the beginning of EA's venture into free games. In the press release announcing the game, they kept referring to this new business model they have called "Play 4 Free". No other games are known to be part of this plan, but I am very interested to see where EA takes this in the future.
Nothing else is known at this time, but more about the game will be revealed in the March issue of Games for Windows magazine.
Brace yourself, EA did something great here...
