BATTLEFIELD HEROES LEADS THE WAY FOR EA'S NEW
'PLAY 4 FREE' BUSINESS MODEL
Unique Cartoon Shooter Introduces a New Way to Play Battlefield
Munich, Germany, January 21, 2008 – At the Digital, Life, Design Conference (DLD) in Munich, Electronic Arts Inc., (NASDAQ: ERTS) today unveiled Battlefield Heroes™, an all-new Play 4 Free cartoon-style shooter that will bring classic Battlefield gameplay to an all new mass audience. Available for download at www.battlefield-heroes.com this summer, Battlefield Heroes is EA's first title that is offered completely for free, and features a built-in matchmaking system to ensure that players of equal skill are paired together for fair play. Developed by DICE in Stockholm, Battlefield Heroes is leading EA's new web-focused free to download, free to play business model which generates revenue through advertising and micro-transactions. With zero barriers to entry, now anyone can be a hero on the battlefield!
“Online gaming garners a massive audience,” said Gerhard Florin, EVP Publishing Americas-Europe at EA. “People want to play games in new ways, with easier access that is quick to the fun. With Battlefield Heroes, EA brings its first major franchise to North America and Europe with a new distribution model and pricing structure adapted to the evolving way that people play.”
Battlefield Heroes is a brand new game from the team behind Battlefield 1942™ and Battlefield 2™. It's fun cartoon-style graphics and gameplay caters to players of all skill levels. It is easy to pick up and play but with robust character customization and a deep online meta-game, gamers can spend hours building up their characters and conquering the world.
“We put a different twist on this Battlefield game going with the cartoon-style graphics and gameplay,” added Ben Cousins, Senior Producer at EA DICE. “There's something here for all types of players -- be it our core Battlefield fans or casual gamers. With the new online model, we will continually add new content to keep the game fresh and keep players engaged, while integrating player feedback in real time. As a game developer, it is such a cool new way to make games.”
Battlefield Heroes will be released for the PC as a free download in summer 2008. This product is not yet rated by PEGI or ESRB. For more information on EA DICE, please visit www.dice.se or www.ea.com.
About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS™, EA™, EA SPORTS BIG™ and POGO™. In fiscal 2007, EA posted revenue of $3.09 billion and had 24 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.
EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS BIG and POGO are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Battlefield Heroes, Battlefield 2 and Battlefield 1942 are trademarks or registered trademarks of EA Digital Illusions CE AB. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Comment 1
Rieme
21 January
"...free to play business model which generates revenue through advertising and micro-transactions." -> micro-transactions This sucks - BFH: just a clone of other free online games. Have fun...
Comment 2
Moborius
21 January
Uber nice :P
Comment 3
Gbow
21 January
wahaha looks fun. hope it is in battlefield 1942 style.
Comment 4
KImboRambo
21 January
aaaaaah, battlefield! I love battlefield, awesome.
Comment 5
Damit
21 January
hope it has a new engine
Comment 6
RSnooks
21 January
This looks like its going to be interesting...
Comment 7
Mark
21 January
Not that I am complaining, but how is EA going to make money on this game?
Comment 8
=.FFP.=Eagle
21 January
Awesome.. and for Free!? Brilliant! Please no stats on this one please ;)
Comment 9
Fixel
21 January
If EA DICE can avoid the *nade spammers* and spawn *farmers* (we know what they really are) then it could be fun at least. For me, I will reserve my opinion until I have a hands-on go at the game, but just from the cartoon graphics it does not look like my kind of thing? We will have to wait and see? Oh BTW it looks like you cannot use quotation marks (inverted commas)in abbreviations or in you message text?
Comment 10
LeipeRiS(c)
21 January
If it is free, can we still complain about bugs and glitches, like the once never solved in BF2. We did pay full price did we!?
Comment 11
Martin T
21 January
Hmm, like a jealous child it seems even EA are happy to mimic the success of another game (TF2) to get attention by releasing a product that is almost identical in style (and probably gameplay). Just because you’ve got the marketing muscle doesn’t mean you should belittle other developers’ efforts. Shameless rip off, you should be ashamed. Hopefully Valve will sue your asses!
Comment 12
SuomiPoika[FIN]
21 January
Awsome! I will be waiting this! I did not expecting freeware game from _EA_! =)
Comment 13
StillFr33
21 January
WOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!!!!! i luv BF!!
Comment 14
Kimberly
21 January
We can leave comments? Nice website design :) The graphics are snazzy too!
Comment 15
Vegard
21 January
woho! cant waith!
Comment 16
Hasselblad
21 January
The idea looks nice :o) Cartoon style with BF World,, and for free, i vote YES !!!!! I just hope the gameplay will be terrific :o)
Comment 17
Shy
21 January
So how do you make it free? do we have to pay for classes or items? There has to be a catch.