EA calls off paid weapons in Bad Company

A few weeks ago Electronic Arts released news that the exclusive weapons found in the special edition (the Gold Edition as it's called) of Battlefield: Bad Company would be made available on the Xbox Live Marketplace for a fee. After sending the internet into an expected uproar over the decision that resulted in angry comments from X3F readers, an internet boycott campaign and an analysis of the situation on our own X3F TV, it seems EA has changed their mind.

Earlier today in an interview with IGN, Senior Producer at DICE Karl-Magnus Troedsson spoke the words throngs of FPS fanboys have been waiting to hear. "No, there's no charge for any of the guns in the game. All of the guns in the game can be achieved without purchasing them."

But the story doesn't end there. Jump in to find out what you'll need to do to claim your weapons from EA when Battlefield: Bad Company hits this summer.

While the weapons will be made available, as the French would say gratuit, the weapons won't simply be available unlocked. "We want to give some exclusivity to those who buy the Gold Edition," Troedsson said, "[Gold Edition purchasers] will get the five Gold Edition weapons from Day One when they put the disc in. People that don't buy the Gold Edition can get the five additional weapons by getting to the final rank in the game."

Also, in order to gain the extra weapons in either version gamers will have to participate in a marketing program that was not detailed in full. Troedsson mentions there are five programs and it may be as simple as signing up for a newsletter, but at this moment we have no confirmation on what these programs will entail from Bad Company players.

Ad for the leveling situation, getting to level 25 in the game seems like a lot of work for a few weapons we detailed as, "not too powerful" in our comparison video on X3F TV but we're not complaining. But this marketing program makes us wonder what we'll be getting ourselves into. But, EA heard what the community had to say and responded. So, with this in mind is anyone who was once against the title thinking about picking it up now?

[Thanks, Marklar]