January 22nd, 2008

The deal Behind the Battlefield Free Online Game

The new free online version of the famous Battlefield video game will be launched by EA Games later this year and will be supported by advertising and micro payments, being a major step of the company into the new ad-driven revenue sources in Western markets.

But besides this aspect, the new type of gaming will surely become friendlier and more accessible, so you can forget from time to time about the complex games full of skilled gamers and requiring high-end PCs on which to play it after finding some free time to go to the store and search to buy it.
Ben Cousins, senior producer at Dice, has a word: “You will be able to play this game on grandma's laptop."

From the free Fifa game version available in South Korea, EA earns over $1 million a month via the in-game sales.
EA expects that the new version of Battlefield to have a larger impact on the masses than the current series sold in 10 million copies worldwide, because it is built to be simpler with more focus on fun than strategy.
For example, players will buy different item to customize their appearance but they won’t be able to get any advantages from buying weapons.

But what about the ads? Will they be annoying? Well, according to Ben Cousins these ads won’t appear during the play, but only on the official website and on the front-end of the game. Sounds cool!