Battlefield-Heroes posts

As promised, developer Digital Illusions and publisher Electronic Arts have released their big "Heroes of the Fall" content update for their free-to-play shooter Battlefield Heroes. The update includes an all new map which has now gotten a title, Riverside Rush.

Other updates include allowing the Hero Shield to be shared with other teammates, having the explosion of the Keg slow down its victim's moments and letting Frenzy mode add health to the person who uses it. There are also some new items and bundles added to the game along with a number of bug fixes as well as changes to the game updater and menus. You can check out the entire change list for the update after the jump:

Electronic Arts is using the occasion of celebrating their 2 million registered user for Battlefield Heroes to announce plans for an all new map that will be added to the free-to-play shooter on September 30. The map itself, pictured above, is an infrantry-based level "set in a village with dozens of intersecting canals."

The map doesn't have a name yet and the game's developers at Digital Illusions are asking for suggestions from Battlefield Heroes players. The update will also include the previously revealed additions to the Gunner character class as well as improvements to the game's Friends list and the new player ranking system.

The release of Battlefield Heroes earlier this year by Digital Illusions and Electronic Arts has apparently been a success in terms of generating revenue for the game's micro-transactions. However the development team is prepping some major new updates to the multiplayer shooter that are currently being tested on the game's test server.

One of the updates will add ranks to game characters in order to distingish new players from veterans. There are also plans to revamp the Friends features to the game. There's another update that will be adding features to the Gunner class. That will include things like allowing the character's shield to be shared by other players, adding a "slow enemies" feature to the Exploding Keg and and allowing the Frenzy Fire to heal the Gunner. More additions to the game will be announced next week.

Each week we find more and more free games that do not quite fit into the freeware mold. Games that do not require a subscription fee to play, but encourage player usage of money through microtransactions or special subscription services. This is Playing For Free, a column that showcases these games.

Battlefield is one of those game series that really knows what it is all about. There is no flip-flopping in gameplay here. It is all about the massive, map-rattling conflicts between large groups of people. However, not everybody can afford all of the games, from Battlefield 2 to the new Bad Company 2. For those either unable or unwilling to shill out for a retail version of this beloved franchise, you have one other option: Battlefield Heroes. A free-to-play, cartoony version of the multiplayer series, it tones down the battles, scales up the ridiculousness, and is in general a great game to play.

It's been a couple of months since developer Digital Illusions and publisher Electronic Arts launched their free-to-play third person multiplayer game Battlefield Heroes. The game gains revenue by micro-transactions for items such as experience points boosts and extra clothing item for its playable character. IGN has a new article which goes over some of the game's stats as provided by the development team.

According to DICE Battlefield Heroes now has 1.5 million players worldwide across 133 countries. DICE says that the average player has spent about $20 in the game via the "Battlefunds" set-up. IGN then does the math and suggests that if both the player numbers and the average amount they have spent is true then Battlefield Heroes could have generated a whopping $30 million in revenue so far. Keep in mind that that number was suggested by the IGN article and not Digital Illusions or EA. If the numbers are true than it looks like the game could be a highly profitable game indeed.

The free-to-play online multiplayer game, Battlefield Heroes, lets players select from different classes to fight out in regular competition. The game recently came out of beta and is now live, so people are free to jump in and check out this cartoon graphics shooter. It's free, after all.

Download HD Battlefield Heroes Launch Trailer (87 MB)
Check out all Battlefield Heroes downloads

On June 25, Digital Illusions and Electronic Arts, with little fanfare, brought their free-to-play shooter Battlefield Heroes out of beta and into full public view. Today the publisher announced that in less than a month the game has secured over 1 million registered players since its official launch.

Since the game's official launch, DICE and EA have been offering players ways to make their characters look unique via the Battlefield Store with real money being used to buy custom clothes such as the Michael Jackson tribute items that were revealed a few days ago. EA has so far not mentioned how much money they have generated via the game's micro-transaction model.

Like everyone else we were shocked and sad to hear about the premature death of Michael Jackson at the age of 50 last week. The news of his death was apparently enough to bring down parts of the Internet as tons of users hit news web sites reporting on his demise.

Since then the media has been paying tributes to Jackson's life with retrospectives, specials and the like. Those tributes are now extending to games. The just launched Battlefield Heroes free-to-play shooter from Digital Illusions and Electronic Arts is offering folks a chance to purchase some new in-game outfits for their characters. As you can see on the the right, those suits look an awful lot like Jackson's costumes in his 1980's music videos. The suits are just available for the month of July.

With little to no fanfare, the "closed beta' test for Battlefield Heroes ended today, marking the official launch of the free-to-play shooter from developer Digital Illusions and publisher Electronic Arts. The game, which is set in a cartoon-style alternate universe where WWII apparently never ended, was supposed to be released last fall but the team delayed its release until today.

As we have reported before the game contains two playable sides, each with four character classes, along with four playable maps. While you can play the game completely for free you can also purchase "Battlefunds" that will allow you to add special clothing items for your character along with ways to level up your character faster.

Fans of the Battlefield shooter franchise already have three upcoming games that will be released for the PC; the web browser-based free-to-play game Battlefield Heroes (currently in beta), the downloadable title Battlefield 1943 (due out in September and shown above) and the single-player themed shooter Battlefield Bad Company 2 (due out in the first quarter of 2010)

But fans of the franchise need not worry; all of these side projects doesn't mean that developer Digital Illusions and publisher EA haven't forgotten about the core series. In a presentation today at the William Blair 29th Annual Growth Stock Conference (a repeat can be heard on the EA Investors web site), EA's chief operating officer John Pleasants stated, "I've had the luxury of looking at Battlefield 3 over at DICE in Sweden and was highly impressed by the way the team is working on that product." Yep, Battlefield 3 is in development. While the game is not coming out soon, Pleasants added, " . . that is a product that is looking very good."