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Rovio kicks off Gamescom with a new studio in Stockholm and an ex-Battlefield GM
Rovio's bird-based empire continues to expand, with this morning's Twitter feed outing ex-Battlefield Play4Free head Oskar Burman as the new general manager of Rovio's Stockholm-based studio. "Super excited to let you know I'm the new GM of Rovio Stockholm, opening up shop today," Burman announced. He left EA's "Easy Company" studio just last month, having served as the GM at Easy ahead of that.Burman's certainly excited about the move, saying, "IMHO Rovio is one of the most exciting devs in the world, perfectly positioned for the future, [with] focus on digital, mobile, and thinking big." He added, "Have to admit I was also growing tired of creating violent games. From now on I'll only inflict violence on cartoon pigs."Rovio says it's "delighted to welcome Oskar to the flock," and that he'll be working on "bringing Sweden's best talent together to work for the world's fastest growing and most innovative entertainment company." The Stockholm studio is "focused on supporting Rovio in both current and upcoming game projects," but no other info is given about what specifically the studio is working on.
More DICE employees jump ship to Ngmoco's Swedish studio
After former DICE / EA Easy dev Benjamin Cousins left his former role, we were pretty sure he was on his way to a world bicycling championship. As it turns out, he's keeping his bicycling hobby on the side and running the Swedish branch of Ngmoco instead -- and he's bringing along some friends from his former employer. Senior artist Wille Wintertidh and senior programmers Torbjørn Lædre and Malte Hildigsson, all from DICE, have joined the team, and we don't expect they'll be the last. Cousins announced the hires via Twitter, where he characterized the trio as "fabulous new employees." We're hoping he also threw confetti in the air as he remarked as much.
Battlefield Heroes celebrates two years with new map, free content
If you give it to them for free, they will come -- at least, we think that's how it works. As a thanks to those who've stuck around for two years (through thick and thin) and for reaching a milestone of eight million players, Battlefield Heroes is adding the popular franchise map Wake Island later this month. It's part of a summer promotion that extends through the next month or so. Aside from the new map, EA is also giving away two free Party Packs to players who log in between now and July 7 at 11:59pm PT. Each pack includes 77 Battlefunds, 25 Festive Flares, a permanent Party Hat exclusive to this promotion and a seven day rental to dress your hero in a Birthday Suit. We, uh, hope that isn't what we think it is. To snag your free Party Packs, simply log in to the Battlefield Heroes website, go through the My Stuff tab and select Rewards. Finally, there are two new Extraordinary Hero item sets you can pick up, which not only give you a futuristic look, but also super powers such as a super jump and a speed boost. See both Metallo and Captain Royal in action above, whose super powers could be yours for a nominal fee. If only we could buy super powers in real life like that!
ngmoco to launch Swedish branch with former EA Easy boss Ben Cousins
When Ben Cousins left EA Easy as head of the studio earlier this year, he didn't leave a forwarding address. Cousins and his new employer revealed today his position as head of newly formed ngmoco Sweden, where he'll be leading the studio in the development of "freemium games for mobile platforms like iOS/Android" (according to Cousins' Twitter feed). His last major project with EA was Battlefield Play 4 Free. The official PR from ngmoco puts the Swedish branch in a position of support for parent company DeNA's "Mobage" social gaming platforms. And the new studios puts Cousins in a position to hire up colleagues in a part of the world ripe for the picking -- Sweden. Don't be surprised if you see some high profile ex-DICE staffers showing up at ngmoco's new Swedish office over the next few months, as we totally warned you. [Image credit: OfficialGDC]
Battlefield Play4Free deploys launch trailer, screens
Battlefield Play4Free is available now on the internets for PC (a Mac version seems unlikely). Watch this new trailer and then take the hectic shooter, which combines elements of Battlefield 2 and Bad Company, for a test drive. It says it's free right there in the title.
Benjamin Cousins leaves EA ahead of Play4Free launch
Today marks the beginning of the closed beta testing process for Battlefield Play4Free (with an open beta set to kick off April 4) -- making the announcement of EA Easy boss Ben Cousins' departure all the more perplexing. Cousins recently announced his exit from the developer on Twitter, saying he's "very proud of what I've achieved in the last 4 years." He didn't say what his next job opportunity is, only teasing, "soon as I can, I let everyone know." Cousins was instrumental in the development of EA's recent salvo of free-to-play titles like Battlefield Heroes, Lord of Ultima and BattleForge, which actually made the transition from a retail release to an F2P title. We wish Cousins the best of luck at whatever his new home may be, and hope that he continues to make things cost zero money. You're doing the Lord's work, Ben.
Battlefield Play4Free engages hostiles in Spring 2011
Following a tease earlier this week, EA has announced Battlefield Play4Free this morning, a freemium title that will support 32-player online warfare. The game will activate in the spring of 2011 but, if you just can't wait, you can enlist early and test out the closed beta beginning November 30. Aesthetically -- and, apparently, in tone -- BP4F appears to be a departure from EA's other freemium warfare title, Battlefield Heroes, which has a cartoony, colorful nature (though the two games will share a single "battlefunds" wallet, confirms Ben Cousins of developer Easy, an EA Games studio). Easy's Battlefield Play4Free will combine maps from Battlefield 2 with the classes and weapons found in the hit (and neglected) Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Players can drive 16 different vehicles, including the F35 VTOL (vertical take-off landing) jet fighter -- which certainly isn't found in BFBC2. Players will progress through the game to learn skills or, as you've probably already guessed, drop some f'real bling to pimp out their soldier. %Gallery-106828%
EA kind of announces 'new, unannounced' Battlefield game
According to a tweet from Ben Cousins, general manager of EA's Easy studio, Battlefield fans can start looking forward to a new entry in the franchise. Easy handles free-to-play online games for EA, such as Lord of Ultima and Battlefield Heroes, and this Friday, the studio will show its "new, unannounced" Battlefield game to London press for the first time, Cousins tweeted. Given Easy's current projects, we're inclined to guess the new Battlefield will be another freemium entry in the online space. Of course, does it even exist? It's still "unannounced," after all -- actually, wait, wasn't that tweet kinda the announcement? We're going to need to lay down. Our brain suddenly hurts.
