EA to release free, online-only 'Battlefield Heroes'

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 -- NY Times
Read -- Official Battlefield Heroes website

Reader Comments (32)

battlefield fortress 2

Phil Hartman wants to know where the whole art style was introduced by TF2... come to thing of it, another spineless hero may pocket rocket his way over to hear the explanation as well.

Battle Fortress 2

Battle Fortress 2: Heroes

Now all I need is a cartoony Unreal Tournament game with a Jazz Jackrabbit cameo, and I'll be set for life.

EA...free...

PARADOX DETECTED. SELF DESTRUCT INITIATED.

Lol!

EA has divided by zero.

What will the world come to?!!?!

*Implodes*

Yes, the art style does look a little familiar...

This could be a fun game, though. And easy way to spend some time during the summer drought.

spyware like a motherfucker

too late for that... EA was already (clearly) listening while we all posted how we didn't have any money left for 2008 gaming

Honestly, this is a great idea.

Make the 5% dumbasses finance everyone else. I mean, that's what PC gamers are kind of used to, right? Goddamned pirates.

And I'll admit that if I got into the game enough, I'd plob down five dollars for a Princess Leia in Jabba's Palace costume for my Jade Raymond avatar.

Looks like Battalion Wars...

Agreed.

Just one of the two new gaming precedents I'm still 'iffy' about. Micro-transactions seem great in theory, but most of the time I feel like I may be lacking part of the game. Though this seems to negate that argument.

The other is episodic content, HL2 episodes and Sam$Max aside, I don't see that trend doing a whole lot. Sin Episodes anyone? But who knows, maybe it can do better, I hope so anyway I like the idea of it.

ArmyMen Online?

What have you done with the EA we all know? Oh wait, there's a nasty trick here isn't there?

I have to say, I'm actually pleased to see developers, even Goliaths like EA examining alternate publishing avenues. I think things like ad-supported gaming provides a good alternative for new developers to put their work out there and still make it feasible.

Frankly, as I see more MMOs launched from the US without consideration of the successful asian market trends, I laugh as games like Auto Assault do poorly. Imagine if Auto Assault launched with this mechanic. Game was free with set regions. Avatar had LIMITED selection and likewise, the way you customize your vehicle was limited. But everyone would be willing to give it a shot. If players enjoyed the title, they could throw some cash at the company to make their character and vehicles truly unique. Meanwhile, I personally passed on the game altogether because I hate the current MMO trends of $50 plus a monthly fee. I've played a ton of asian MMOs brought to the states and if I have enough fun, I always throw a few bucks their way.

The current western developer mentality of MMO development, frankly, cannot survive. They need to adapt because there is no way to compete with Warcraft. So go for the players who don't play warcraft.

Dammit EA!.....NO MORE HEROES!!

Nothing in life is free (except for Herpes)... they will find a way to suck money out of this game.

*Itches*

wow. part of me is surprised EA did this, the other part isnt because EA has the kind of money to.

as someone who still plays games like Gunz, i will definitely get into this at launch.

Wow another free game i just got for free WAR ROCK and INSURGENCY MODERN COMBAT mod from the half life 2 source, and now this, this is going to be a good 2008...

i tried War Rock before but there never seemed to be many people playing when i was on there. i still loved the concept though.

wow. EA has actually impressed me. this sounds like a really good idea. i liked the battlefield series and letting everyone give it a whirl for free is a good idea. the only downside i see with games based on microtransactions would be if the game was made unfair to people who didnt want to spend money by offerring better weapons and stuff for sale. but it seems this wont the case with this game. dare i say it?.....go out there and set an example for the industry EA! *shutters*

This is a complete rip-off of another project at www.fireteamreloaded.com.

They have been setting up the same model for micro payments for a while now. Take a look at the images, seems too close to me.

http://www.fireteamreloaded.com
http://www.pixelminegames.com/

For you guys who need to click :)

The only reason the micro payment system works in Korea is because they are a bit zealous about their apperance. They pay money so they can change an avatar on their cyworld page (like myspace). In the land of girls that won't leave the house unless dressed up, hair done, and face caked with make-up to go to the 7-11 down the street and where 80% of women have plastic surgery done before they're 30 a micro-payment system for apperance changes works.

In the states, not so much, it's just not that big of a deal to people and it will at least take money from the company if they want to continue to support it or it will just go under in a few months from lack of revenue.

It's a nice that their going to do this for free but they made a mistake if they think its going to work like Korea.

EA? FREE? In the same sentence? And not a single mention of "moral"?(EA is moral-free.)

FISSION MAILED.

Game developers are beginning to understand what a lot of players already do: Easy, fast, fun gameplay is DESIRED. And even for those hardcore gamers, sometimes you don't have 6 hours and a console. So why not give a browser plaform game a whirl? It's less and less solely the province of puzzle games. More core games online the better. This is what we're aiming at with InstantAction.com: cool games, good gameplay, fun, for goodness sake Our CEO Josh said, we're reluctant to do advertising-driven models unless it makes a lot of sense for the game and won't turn players off.

All the haranguers on the verandas are going to get pulled down if this stuff winds up being fun. And that's an easy test: keep your eye on it, when it comes out - whether it's EA or us, or anyone - try it. If it sucks, so be it. But I bet the browser platform's going to get more and more expressive as we all experiment with it and get feedback on what works and what doesn't.

EA to release free, online-only 'Battlefield Heroes'

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