Intel Begins ..

Timeline .. 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!

 Cont ..

“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.”

Intel ends ..

 This game will look like and feel like Team Fortress 2 but with the ingame development that BF 2 has, I.E. I guess that ranking system and weapon upgrades.

On the face of this, this is excelent news indeed for FPS gamers and gamers in general, as this game comes completly free to download and play. The system of revenue that will pay for this game is adverts, both with-in the official wesite and with-in the game it's self.

I also expect that Dice will provide full machinima making tools with this new game, they of-course my be sponcered by Kodak or Coca Cola.

Another source of intel informs me .. "free to play business model which generates revenue through advertising and micro-transactions." -> micro-transactions?  I have no clue as to what these are .. anyone care to shed any light on this?

Main source and BF 2 fan FMJPower  also long time friend here, GameTrailers and at Stats Tracker.

Other source .. BattlefieldHeros.com

Debriefing (Comments) Below

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