The heated battle between Activision and EA over their respective big budget modern military first-person shooter franchises that sell lots of copies appeared to be dying down a bit in recent months, but today's accidental announcement of a new weapon in the Call of Duty/Battlefield 3 arms race seems poised to rekindle the flames of acrimony.

Earlier, a European PlayStation blog entry and a leaked fact sheet posted on NeoGAF outed a new Battlefield 3 Premium service that sounds suspiciously similar to Activision's Call of Duty Elite service. And now EA has essentially confirmed that the service exists, while not quite confirming all the leaked details.

The Premium service is reportedly a one time $50 fee that grants immediate access to all current and forthcoming Battlefield 3 DLC expansions, as well as a few other perks, which include such gems as:

• Unique in-game items, like a knife, and special dog tags, and specialized soldier and weapon camouflage.
• 2 weeks of early, exclusive access to all future Battlefield 3 expansion packs.
• Access to exclusive "Double XP Weekends"
• The ability to reset all of your stats.
• Priority access to server queues (translation: jump ahead of the non-paying gutter trash!)

EA says to keep an eye on Battlefield.com come June 4, presumably so you can have all the same information posted here reiterated to you, but perhaps in a neater and tidier press release format that will include quotes from executives heralding the unprecedented successes of Battlefield 3 and explaining how this Premium service is great for fans because it has things in it.

EA hasn't exactly been shy regarding its turgid feelings over Call of Duty's Elite service. Specifically, its ability to wring extra dollars out of the pockets of those who simply must have everything the game has to possibly offer. And now EA has their own version of that, which is great for them, I guess. You, the consumer? Probably not. But EA? They're good.

The heated battle between Activision and EA over their respective big budget modern military first-person shooter franchises that sell lots of copies appeared to be dying down a bit in recent months, but today's accidental announcement of a new weapon in the Call of Duty/Battlefield 3 arms race seems poised to rekindle the flames of acrimony.

Earlier, a European PlayStation blog entry and a leaked fact sheet posted on NeoGAF outed a new Battlefield 3 Premium service that sounds suspiciously similar to Activision's Call of Duty Elite service. And now EA has essentially confirmed that the service exists, while not quite confirming all the leaked details.

The Premium service is reportedly a one time $50 fee that grants immediate access to all current and forthcoming Battlefield 3 DLC expansions, as well as a few other perks, which include such gems as:

• Unique in-game items, like a knife, and special dog tags, and specialized soldier and weapon camouflage.
• 2 weeks of early, exclusive access to all future Battlefield 3 expansion packs.
• Access to exclusive "Double XP Weekends"
• The ability to reset all of your stats.
• Priority access to server queues (translation: jump ahead of the non-paying gutter trash!)

EA says to keep an eye on Battlefield.com come June 4, presumably so you can have all the same information posted here reiterated to you, but perhaps in a neater and tidier press release format that will include quotes from executives heralding the unprecedented successes of Battlefield 3 and explaining how this Premium service is great for fans because it has things in it.

EA hasn't exactly been shy regarding its turgid feelings over Call of Duty's Elite service. Specifically, its ability to wring extra dollars out of the pockets of those who simply must have everything the game has to possibly offer. And now EA has their own version of that, which is great for them, I guess. You, the consumer? Probably not. But EA? They're good.

Doesn't this content incentive only work when it isn't already out and possibly already purchased? At least with Elite, you could buy it ahead of time

No thanks.

Pass

Sounds like a great idea for hardcore Battlefield fans. Luckily I'm not one of them.

$50 for all BF3 expansions? That doesn't sound too bad.

fuck that!

If they were able to do this for a game I was into, maybe I'd find it worth being excited/angry over.

Then again, these kind of subscription things only make sense if you plan on playing a single game for an entire year. I rarely play a game more than 2 weeks.

Just what is Battlefield 3: End Game?

Do we get to absorb the essence of people we kill if we behead them? Ala Highlander?

Sigh

Is anyone even still playing Battlefield 3? I traded that game in. AWHILE ago.

They should just put exclusive dragon fights as an exclusive Battlefield 3 subscriber content, I'd get down with that... maybe.

Good to see they are still supporting Battlefield 3 but with all the other games that have come out lately like D3, I doubt I'll go back to Battlefield anytime soon.

• Unique in-game items, like a knife, and special dog tags, and specialized soldier and weapon camouflage.

I'm waving goodbye to game balance as we speak.

Also, as much as I enjoyed playing BF3 since I got it about two months ago, I think I might have to wave it goodbye as well.

Either way, though, I'm not paying for this. I don't have the money, but that's not the reason. I'm not paying for this out of principle. I understand paying for Xbox Live and am satisfied with that service and all that comes with it, but I'm not buying this one.

Once again Alex has the best headlines.

EA is really pushing these F2P market strategies in their non-free games. Sadly this will probably do fairly well and EA will continue with their booster pack nonsense.

Copy cats!

Weren´t they throwing snide remarks at Activision and the Elite service just last year?

Anyway, this doesn´t seem such a great deal for people who already bought dlc for the game (but they probably had to get their stupid, stupid PS3 timed exclusive deal out of the way first)

Lacking online distributable cash (yeah still), I'll only get it as a 'code-in-a-box', if such a thing will in fact exist. Should be a great incentive to finally get back over the hump and into the fray.

Albeit me wanting to play 'Warhammer 40k : Dawn of War 2' and not finding a physical copy really makes me want to finally get me a credit card and join the Steam PC-Elite. Steam & Co. are never out of stock!

Tried to get into BF3 some yesterday, spawned into a match for the first time in weeks, got shot in the back instantly (got spawned right infront of an enemy) - which set the tone for the remainder of the match, in terms of hardcoded lameness. Oh well...

Can someone explain one thing to me - are these companies really doing that badly financially or is it just greed? It's clearly not just EA. It's a horrible constant milking of every cent from your fan-base, even a loyal, dedicated fan-base that wants to support you. There has to be a goal above higher and higher profits... or maybe not.

It's probably naive to believe that satisfying your costumers is a more viable long term plan. Companies can go a long way on built up goodwill, but they don't seem to be trying to do any of that. I guess Valve is the only example of a company that at least seems to put consumers first. Maybe it really is a shareholder thing? Valve is a private company, and EA is publicly traded, I believe...

Awesome! Now they just need to travel back to October 2011 when this would be remotely relevant.

JESUS ALEX STOP LINKING TO KOTAKU CHRIST

OR IT'S BACK TO THE EAST COAST WITH YOU

I think there's some kind of irony to be had out of paying to be able to reset your stats, but I can't put my finger on it. Probably something like how if you just go and 'stat pad' they'll reset them for free.

BF3 is a fine game and all, but I've been rather annoyed that after the last major patch that tweaked a lot of things, of course introducing its own new bugs, there's been next to no response on getting another patch to fix the more heinous ones. It appears as though they're too busy getting ready for the 'close combat', 'give us more money' expansion to be bothered with them. Appears.

Also, I rarely see any server I would want to play on with a queue longer than 2. Maybe there's going to be a lack of servers before too long, for some reason... sigh.

Depending on the cost of the Expansions & Future DLC (of which I will buy all of it). This could be a competitive offering. Time will tell though.

Free to play, pay to win.

Wait, hold on a minute...

My friend who plays Battlefield 3 on the 360 told me that when EA started giving people the ability to rent out the dedicated servers it pretty much killed the game for him and all the people he played with.

Does EA just like disappointing people? Is that their maxim?

I think weapons and stuff should be unlocked only by doing challenges and not buying them straight-up. I liked in Battlefield 2142 where you had to get a set amount of knife kills to unlock a new knife to use(it felt awesome to know you earned something rare). Buying items would be just like "yeah, that's a thing".

Seems to nice to be able to pay for all the expansions packs upfront and receive a slight discount (assuming the next 4 packs cost $15 a pop). Well, it's not that nice if you feel that expansion content should be free or something. That would be a far-flung thing to hope for Battlefield as the series has a history of having multiple expansion packs for games in the series.

EA apparently thinks that their customers are all brain-dead or something. Why would anyone pay 50 dollars for dog tags, camoflague, and other crap like this? That's about as insulting as charging money to host your own server.

Oh wait......

@Seppli: Steam just started selling cards at Gamestop, if you still want to use the awesomeness that is Steam.

@Seppli: Gamestop sells Steam Gift Cards now.

@Eujin said:

@Seppli: Steam just started selling cards at Gamestop, if you still want to use the awesomeness that is Steam.

Thanks for the heads-up. I'm European though, and the Steam pre-paid cards haven't popped up yet around my parts.

fuck off

Even if all the expansion maps and weapons were included at release, I wouldn't pay $100 for the game. What makes them think I'll do that now?

@FlipperDesert said:

Awesome! Now they just need to travel back to October 2011 when this would be remotely relevant.

Unless if for some crazy reason they would decide to make another game in their biggest shooter franchise.

@dr_mantas said:

Can someone explain one thing to me - are these companies really doing that badly financially or is it just greed? It's clearly not just EA. It's a horrible constant milking of every cent from your fan-base, even a loyal, dedicated fan-base that wants to support you. There has to be a goal above higher and higher profits... or maybe not.

It's probably naive to believe that satisfying your costumers is a more viable long term plan. Companies can go a long way on built up goodwill, but they don't seem to be trying to do any of that. I guess Valve is the only example of a company that at least seems to put consumers first. Maybe it really is a shareholder thing? Valve is a private company, and EA is publicly traded, I believe...

Depends. There are probably ways to see this as "giving the hardcore fans what they want for a nominal fee" (and given how hardcore some players can get, those players are probably happy for more options), or "greedy corporations trying to milk their consumers for everything their worth". Like many things though, a little from column A, a little from column B.

Also, don't want it? Don't buy it.

Though it's probably more naive to think that Valve is in it for their consumers.

@Mr_Skeleton said:

@FlipperDesert said:

Awesome! Now they just need to travel back to October 2011 when this would be remotely relevant.

Unless if for some crazy reason they would decide to make another game in their biggest shooter franchise.

"outed a newBattlefield 3Premium service"

So they're making a Battlefield 3 2?

Unique in-game items, like a knife. What the hell!

About 9 months too late. Fuck off EA

If they released this at the same time as Elite, it would have made sense. Now it's just piggy backing because of the success of Elite, and doing a "bandwagon" junk.

@DillonWerner said:

About 9 months too late. Fuck off EA

^ This.

If I were playing this game paying the $50 now would go down easier then paying $100+ when the game came out. For the simple fact that if your still playing BF3 then chances are you will be playing it until the new game comes out and thus this package is not really a bad deal. Although I think it's sad how these game companies nickel and dime us on all this crap now, and we happily hand over out nickels and dimes.

I also think it's funny how most people were okay with the COD version of this yet are totally against a BF version.

I think, I just want to shoot dudes and tanks and leave it at that. Though I can't fly choppers or jets to save my life. I wonder if I can map flight controls to a 360 controller whilst using M/K for ground combat.

Well, that sure quacks, walks and looks like a duck...so it must be a copy of Elite. Since I play CoD and I find Elite helpful I see now issue with EA trying this, as far as Activision is concerned Elite works, so there is no reason why the Battlefield games should not follow the same path. If you are going to buy the most of DLC anyway, you might as well do it up front.

@Breadfan said:

No thanks.

I'm sure somebody'll say they read the headline and knew it was an Alex article. But I've gotta admit, this headline nailed my sentiments exactly.

The server queue thing would only work if the game was F2P. Unfortunately it is not. So this is bullpoop.

For some reason I haven't quite figured out, BF3 hasn't been the absolute blast that BC2 was for me. I feel that it's because it's more of a "commodity" now than just a game and somehow it's just less fun. I was playing the same loadout on the same 24/7 map of BC2 for 3 months before this came out, and never got tired of it. BF3, though...just hasn't grabbed me. So strange.

weak move EA, i now see why you guys were voted the worst company in the world.

@xdaknightx69 said:

fuck that!

Word!

Welcome to the new micro-transactions program for Battlefield. I know, let the gamers pay $60 bucks for our new game, then in a year, we will institute a program to have them pay for DLC's and some extra crap no one cares about for the same price as the game when it was released.

This is a sad day. I can certainly understand micro-transactions for free-to-play games or inexpensive games, but for AAA retail games, really? And we all remember the promise during BC2 to release content on a regular basis and that never came, except with Vietnam came out and it was fun for the month it was popular, then after that it died and everyone went back to regular map rotations. This will be the same with these new DLC's. Even the Karkand DLC for BF3 isn't as popular as it was a few months ago, plus they ruined the classic BF2 maps by restricting the out-of-bounds areas. And they didn't add Dragon Valley and whats up with that?

Either way, this is BS and BF4 will most likely be out Q2 of 2014.

After EA's 2007-2010 turnaround, I began to question this change after Dragon Age II and Battlefield 3. Both felt extremely rushed, with the latter having some very questionable interface choices and financial models. It was not until Mass Effect 3 (no, not the ending) that my disdain for their performance in 2011 and 2012, that I decided I would no longer participate in their business. This article just bolsters how I already felt. Sadly. Even the the online requirement for Diablo 3 has me rethinking if I want to participate in future Blizzard products. A lot my experience with Diablo 3 since launch has included a host of connection issues (which I'm fine with) and 300+ latency (which I am not fine with).

I miss the days when a developer made a game, a publisher distributed the game, and the player decided how they wanted to play it.