In the wake of the announcement of the Call of Duty Elite subscription fee over the weekend, many wondered if EA's similar Battlelog service for Battlefield 3 would follow a similar pattern, offering matchmaking, friends lists and voice over IP features for free, with a layer of premium extras for paying customers. EA have told Industry Gamers that, as far as Battlefield 3 is concerned, Battlelog will be entirely free.
"We are providing Battlelog to Battlefield 3 players to deliver the best social, multiplayer FPS experience in the market," reads the statement. "We have no plans to charge for this service with Battlefield 3. The Battlefield series has always been about playing with friends, and Battlelog takes that experience to the next level by serving as a unique social network."
It would be especially odd for EA to charge money for the service on PC, where Battlelog will act as the Battlefield 3's main menu from which all games must be launched. Games companies have experimented with many different ways to get more money from customers, but thankfully no-one has yet tried to sell us a main menu.
Battlelog offers many similar features to the free version of Call of Duty Elite . Subscribers to Activision's service will gain access to a series of videos, and let players participate in tournaments for real prizes.
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Part of the UK team, Tom was with PC Gamer at the very beginning of the website's launch—first as a news writer, and then as online editor until his departure in 2020. His specialties are strategy games, action RPGs, hack ‘n slash games, digital card games… basically anything that he can fit on a hard drive. His final boss form is Deckard Cain.
