Xbox Living

DICE and EA have announced that the paid weapons and other content that was planned to appear in their upcoming Battlefield: Bad Company have been dropped. Until now, the companies had been planning to allow players to add new weapons and upgrades to their games via micro-transactions.

I’m happy to hear about this move.  There’s been talk on many community sites about boycotting this game because of the whole micro-transaction thing.  I’m a fan of Battlefield games, but I wasn’t loving this either.

Karl Magnus, the producer of Bad Company had this to say:

“DICE is built upon the multiplayer community, and we do listen to what people say out there … we just decided that all weapons will be free in the game, and that’s how it is now.”

Battlefield: Bad Company is currently in beta on Xbox Live. I had a chance to take a shot at the beta and I’m impressed. The game style differs significantly from previous Battlefield titles, which was disappointing at first.  The beta, at least, has less reliance on vehicles and a lot more close-quarters action.

My favourite part about Battlefield games was that they were different from the sometimes random frenzy that occurs in games like Halo or Call of Duty.  Although I do enjoy those games, Battlefield allowed a more calculated, strategic approach and offered a nice change of pace.

But innovative changes, including the game’s destructible environments, definitely change the standard shooter dynamic.  Calculated and strategic will still be important in Bad Company, but you’re going to have to be quite a bit faster.

Bad Company is due out this June in North America and Europe.