from ign.com
Battlefield Boycott?
It appears that Electronic Arts is once again making waves in the digital distribution community with a questionable pricing structure for the weapons in
Battlefield: Bad Company. We
originally reported the story after leaked screenshots showed price tags attached to certain weapons in the Multiplayer Beta, but outraged fans have taken the fight to the virtual streets in the form of a
boycott.
Once again, here's the quote from the original story, straight from an EA spokesperson regarding the specifics of the deal:
"Battlefield: Bad Company will release five unique weapons free of charge through five different promotional programs prior to launch. EA will again make these weapons available to players free of charge after launch, in case anyone missed the pre-launch promotions. At launch, EA will release a Gold Edition of Battlefield: Bad Company which will feature an additional five new weapons. For players who do not purchase the Gold Edition of the game, they can still buy the five weapons at a small individualized price per item. All weapons are balanced for gameplay. More weapons offer players more choices but do not create an advantage/disadvantage for players who do not opt to buy new items."
We contacted EA again today to see if their policy or specifics of the pricing had changed with the recent public outcry. While we weren't able to get a direct quote on the subject, we were told that EA Games is listening to the feedback of gamers and has an announcement in store for next week with regard to the pricing for the Gold Edition weapons.
Needless to say we'll have more to report next week. Battlefield: Bad Company is scheduled for release on June 23.