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Home Electronic Arts updates

Battlefield: Bad Company's weapons now yours at no charge

3:22 PM on 04.13.2008, Hamza CTZ Aziz 35 comments

Battlefield: Bad Company's weapons now yours at no charge photo
     Electronic Arts

Wow, an Internet boycott actually worked! Thanks to the folks at Sarcastic Gamer and the voice of the Internets, EA will not be charging for weapons in Battlefield: Bad Company. Yes, a giant corporation actually listened to the public outcry and have opted for a different method in giving people these five extra guns. Now, instead of paying, people that want the extra guns will have to complete various marketing gimmicks campaigns:

  • Demo Unlock - Play either the Xbox 360 or PS3 demo and receive a weapon unlock.
  • Veteran Unlock - Register with the Battlefield Veterans program and receive a weapon unlock.
  • Website Unlock - A weapon is unlocked when you first check your stats on the Battlefield: Bad Company website.
  • Pre-order Unlock - A new sniper rifle is unlocked when you pre-order the game.
  • Newsletter Unlock - Sign up for the Battlefield newsletter and you'll get a new weapon.

All that sounds fine except the whole Pre-order bit. I rarely ever pre-order a game. Especially with a title like this, which I wouldn't expect to sell out.

IGN also got some clarification to the difference between the Gold Edition weapons. They talked to Karl-Magnus Troedsson, Senior Producer on Battlefield and he explained that people who get the regular version of the game will still be able to unlock the five extra Gold Edition weapons after reaching the level cap of level 25.

And yes, this is totally Slowbro-ed here but we're still getting tips about boycotting the game so hopefully that stops now. Plus, I can take this time to ask you all if you have any questions in regards to Battlefield: Bad Company. I'm going to be playing the game when I visit EA this Friday and I'll have the opportunity to interview a producer from the game. So if you have any questions, leave them in the comments and I'll be sure to ask it.  

[Image made by The Fronz] 


Next page: More Controversy stories




Blackhat's Avatar
Blackhat at 04/13/2008 15:23
I can't believe "in order to get guns you have to buy them" was ever even considered. Honestly, which genius thought that would be ok?

"It's cool Bob, the people who buy the game won't mind!"

I mean seriously.

When I worked at EA about a year ago, there was constant talk of 'micro transactions' and how it 'was the future.'

I think they misunderstood the purpose of them, though. If you want to charge 5 bucks for some additional camo, a different looking armourset, that's fine. But when you add gameplay changing things like weapons, just.. wow.
FreePablo's Avatar
FreePablo at 04/13/2008 15:23
Wait.... What's Battlefield: Bad Company? That free Battlefield TF2 ripoff?
TentuX's Avatar
TentuX at 04/13/2008 15:25
@freepablo

yessir cept the sniper class isnt built in. screw that, its time for some TF2 goodness on 360.
MrSadistic's Avatar
MrSadistic at 04/13/2008 15:26
Oh man, that picture made me laugh.

There should be a pre-order bonus where you're allowed to kick, whoever thought of that crappy idea of the "pay for weapons" idea, in the nuts/ovaries.
BS3 Owner's Avatar
BS3 Owner at 04/13/2008 15:28
I guess they'll have to stop selling the "Gold" editions ( All weapons for MP Unlocked for $69.99 ) of this title @ Gamestop.com now....

YAH! Boycott!
Zersturer's Avatar
Zersturer at 04/13/2008 15:29
I don't really care about this game, but the victory is inspiring.
xMalachi's Avatar
xMalachi at 04/13/2008 15:45
This game looks just okay to me..we'll see what happens. I really wanted to get into the beta to get some impressions. Anyone have thoughts on it as of so far?
pendelton21's Avatar
pendelton21 at 04/13/2008 15:49
Fantastic. Now, if we could just use that power for good somehow...
Neveras's Avatar
Neveras at 04/13/2008 15:49
@freepablo & TentuX - No this isn't the TF2 knock-off. This one is another title I think solely meant for consoles. Essential just another battlefield but with destructible environments. Got to try the beta a bit ago and it's alright, not amazing but merely alright.
2 WYCKED's Avatar
2 WYCKED at 04/13/2008 15:51
Ask them why Army of Two sucked so bad after being developed so @!$#ing long. Also why they think if they buy other companies franchises when they're making good games and then sell them under their name and tell gamers that they are not in it for the money.
Sirapak's Avatar
Sirapak at 04/13/2008 15:59
Well people were stupid and bought the halo 3 maps and cod4 maps.. so now other people will give that type of shit a try what do you all expect?
F Whipple's Avatar
F Whipple at 04/13/2008 16:00
zomg the power of the interwebs is over 9000!
Faith's Avatar
Faith at 04/13/2008 16:10
The power of the boycott is strong is this one.
rocket_auk's Avatar
rocket_auk at 04/13/2008 16:13
[img]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y4/neilyum2/493_2007618_slowpoke.png[/img

Hey guys, am I too late to sock it to the Kaizer?
Yashoki's Avatar
Yashoki at 04/13/2008 16:17
I helped.
Anus Mcphanus's Avatar
Anus Mcphanus at 04/13/2008 16:20
Although it's great to hear EA won't be charging for the guns anymore I'm not quite willing to say that this is a complete victory yet.

EA must have had a quota for how much money they expected to make from the charged downloadable weapons and now that they won't be making it this way I doubt they will simply write off all that cash, I mean this is EA we're talking about. Although I don't really care much for this game, I'm a bit worried about how EA may try to recoup this money in some other way.

But hell if this boycott worked then I wonder if a complete boycott of EU Rock Band will lead to a drop in price for that...
Crunshii's Avatar
Crunshii at 04/13/2008 16:28
Well im glad that they removed it, and every time I see a company try to rip us off like that I will make sure to bitch n complain like stewie on their rear.

Cheeburga's Avatar
Cheeburga at 04/13/2008 16:31
Well, I see what you did there.
Holyetheline's Avatar
Holyetheline at 04/13/2008 16:31
This game doesn't appeal enough to me to give a crap.
AgentMOO's Avatar
AgentMOO at 04/13/2008 16:35
Slowbro uses Boycott

It's super-effective!

BlackSunEmpire's Avatar
BlackSunEmpire at 04/13/2008 16:45
Do you think this game will still sell as well as if EA had never announced their microtransaction intentions before release??

I'm not enjoying this console generations tendency to arrange content for games prior to release and then charge us for it anyway. Whats next, EA releases an unplayable game, and then charges for the patch??
Arminas's Avatar
Arminas at 04/13/2008 17:32
EA.... Can we get a downloadable Slowpoke model plx.
Arminas's Avatar
Arminas at 04/13/2008 17:34
Slowpoke = Slowbro. Bahhhhhh!
2 WYCKED's Avatar
2 WYCKED at 04/13/2008 17:35
Ask them why Army of Two sucked so bad after being developed so @!$#ing long. Also why they think if they buy other companies franchises when they're making good games and then sell them under their name and tell gamers that they are not in it for the money.
TheStripe's Avatar
TheStripe at 04/13/2008 17:39
Ah, the power of the consumer. Now if only we could get past this whole "violence and kids" thing.
MechaMonkey's Avatar
MechaMonkey at 04/13/2008 19:17
Leathersoup's Avatar
Leathersoup at 04/13/2008 21:11
Yeah.. EA has decided to let you get the guns for free. Now, however, they will be charging you 25 cents per clip of ammo.
TrailerParkJesus's Avatar
TrailerParkJesus at 04/13/2008 22:27
Is this the first time that online boycott has worked? I don't remember the last time.
Necros's Avatar
Necros at 04/14/2008 09:47
Well, good for them succumbing to the public, after they pick up some nice consumer awareness for the game.
Spartacus's Avatar
Spartacus at 04/14/2008 11:36
Part of me hopes if we boycott friend codes, we can get WiiLive.
Eschatos's Avatar
Eschatos at 04/14/2008 14:44
Still laym but at least I'll consider getting it.
mix's Avatar
mix at 04/14/2008 15:08
Might give this a rent to test it out.
smokadeth's Avatar
smokadeth at 06/30/2008 04:34
I don't think that people were 'stupid' for buying the CoD4 maps. They provided a TON of replay value; by offering double XP points for a week, most people played the new maps exclusively and by the time that was over, you kinda missed the old maps. Once they were mixed, it felt like a fresh start. It's akin to buying expansion packs, though not as expansive. Overall a good deal.
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