DICE: Battlefield Heroes 'already out', closed beta to expand
by Griffin McElroy 
{ Aug 23rd 2008 at 9:00PM }
Unfortunately for pastry fans, the title will only be available via digital distribution upon its release -- though the term "release" seems to have come under scrutiny from Ben Cousins, executive producer for DICE, Battlefield Heroes' developer. According to him, the title, which is currently in closed beta, is already technically "released", and won't have the "big splash release" one expects from an Electronic Arts title.
Cousins explained that DICE simply plans to increase the size of the closed beta "to the point where every hardcore gamer in the world will probably be able to get a key if they want to," leading up to a time when the game will eventually "sneak out." We've never known a title to be well-served by a surreptitious launch, but we imagine the rules could be different when your game costs bupkis.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jake11 @ Aug 23rd 2008 9:12PM
I wish this was coming out for mac so bad. Please EA, make my wish come true
Macca @ Aug 23rd 2008 10:08PM
Your a Mac user but you view this website and actually want to be able to play games. Idiot...
Nikita @ Aug 23rd 2008 11:05PM
@Macca: oh you
whymog @ Aug 24th 2008 2:24AM
I'm a Mac user too, but fortunately it's not very hard to install Windows on an Intel Mac.
That said, I really do like it when games run in OSX. I'm glad Blizzard's kept that standard at least.
jpcx00 @ Aug 24th 2008 6:16AM
Yeah, you'd think they would want to take Blizzard's approach. With EA's recent commitment to mac gaming (may have been an evil prank) and their desires for Battlefield Hero's to be multi
The sad fact about these things though is that the only decent way to provide Mac gaming is to make the decision from the start to support Mac and PC. They have to generalize the codebase framework to be platform neutral (the way blizzard and id do it) and then the only have to port a thin client over to Mac and PC. The alternative (full Mac ports) are almost always absolute garbage (see aspyr catalog).
Anyways, big missed opportunity. Mac usage in the consumer space (the only count that matters since games are generally frowned upon at work) is gaining bigtime and if EA doesn't start taking it into consideration, they are going to be on the losing end of the prevailing market trends.
Simon @ Aug 24th 2008 11:18AM
@ Macca: It's people like you that have really reduced the value of actually commenting an article...
Mac is a platform, and has playble games. EA is supposed to release all the titles to pc and mac simultaneously, so if it's EA, it's coming to the mac.
Not only is he gonna play the game to his mac, but also more AAA+++ games that are displayed in the site, such as starcraft2, diablo3, spore and more. Comments like "idiot" are only displaying your own idiotic level of thinking.
Lucas Schafer @ Aug 23rd 2008 9:32PM
well thats pretty dumb if you ask me.
tidefan94 @ Aug 23rd 2008 9:41PM
Not to sound whiny, but if it were in a closed beta and already "out", shouldn't everyone who registered for it (me and a bunch of my friends) already be in it.
DemonGSides @ Aug 23rd 2008 10:09PM
No kidding.
Seraphim @ Aug 24th 2008 7:27AM
.. didn't you get the memo?
This is where EA's involvement comes into play.
Enjoy your summer, kids!
Zsavior @ Aug 24th 2008 10:44AM
actually I got in it.
Luis @ Aug 23rd 2008 9:46PM
I'm in the beta and haven't gotten to play at all cause they haven't fixed crashing issues.
Einhanderkiller @ Aug 24th 2008 4:29AM
They've been fixed for me.
The game runs really smoothly.
bizarrorollins @ Aug 25th 2008 11:04AM
Same for me. I couldn't even download the game for about a month. Now that I have it installed I can't even launch it... Meh. 0 points on the beta.
mundox @ Aug 23rd 2008 9:58PM
If anyone has a key to spare I'd love to get one XD
Justin B @ Aug 23rd 2008 10:54PM
I would like one too, but most people have already given out their keys :( Been registered for the beta since it was announced but no luck for me
Neebs @ Aug 23rd 2008 10:19PM
I registered a while back.
Where's my invite?
Aaron @ Aug 23rd 2008 11:09PM
So, it sounds like it will be just like gmail.
Aegis @ Aug 23rd 2008 11:14PM
I've been in the beta since June, but I haven't been able to play it due to it having start up problems.
upirons @ Aug 24th 2008 12:55AM
Seriously, where can a guy get some beta key love?
Eh @ Aug 24th 2008 3:55AM
They need to reevaluate their meaning of "already out." I signed up for the beta when they first took applications and I havent gotten a single email since. And it sounds like the people who actually did get accepted cant even play it.
Shadow Hog @ Aug 24th 2008 8:07AM
Question is, it may borrow TF2's style, but how does it compare? On par, hopefully, but having not played it, I dunno...
Peter Johnston @ Aug 24th 2008 11:08AM
The two don't even compare. TF2 is a far far far superior game in both style and execution.
Jeff Swann @ Aug 24th 2008 3:53PM
Between this and Home... I'm getting sick of games that are supposedly out but yet nobody has them.
Sam Welson @ Aug 24th 2008 3:29PM
I wish I could get into the beta...
Lixie @ Aug 24th 2008 4:07PM
I just lost a lot of interest in this game. Sorry, but I don't like the idea of entering an online shooter game for the first time against beta players who have honed their skill for the past 6 months memorizing each map, camping spawn points, and finding which guns are broken in balance.
Isn't this the kind of stuff DICE said they were trying to prevent when they said, "You won't get shot in the head repeatedly by a 15 year old who plays the game 8 hours everyday!" Well, what do they think is going to happen when the game goes public and Joe Gamer gets matched against hardcore beta players who already mastered the game 6 months ago?
gb @ Aug 25th 2008 10:21AM
i have read things on various message boards that the accuracy of your gun is sooooo bad, it is difficult to actually kill someone