Battlefield Heroes launching with two maps

Buried somewhere in Gamasutra's interview with EA DICE producer Ben Cousins is the acknowledgment that Battlefield Heroes will only have two maps when the free MMO shooter launches. Cousins states that the studio is used to making 50 maps for other Battlefield games and finding out months later that people are only playing on two of them -- so, they just cut to the chase for this free game.

Considering this is an EA product, the automatic impulse is to call microtransaction shenanigans. The only problem is that Battlefield Heroes is designed to have a business model like an Asian MMO where players join free and pay for content later. Cousins previously stated that players will only be charged for accessorizing their avatar and not for weapons, which could break balance in the game (a concept not shared by other Battlefield titles). At this point, we don't even know if players will be charged for new Battlefield Heroes maps when they become available.

Update: Cousins left a little note in our comments saying, "We have no plans to charge for maps."

[Via EvilAvatar]