Just like the lid was blown off of Battlefield 3's forthcoming trio of DLC offerings earlier than DICE was expecting, the secret is out on a new service for the game reportedly called Battlefield Premium. PlayStation Blog Europe made the mistake in announcing the service early, and thankfully a few sources were able to grab at least acknowledgement of the announcement's existence.
Not many official details are known about Battlefield Premium — the announcement page has since been taken down — but all sources are pointing towards June 4th as the date for the service's reveal.
While we have heard rumblings of a Call of Duty Elite-esque service coming to Battlefield, we never thought it would be instituted with Battlefield 3. Then came the announcement of three new DLC offerings for the game (with another one rumored to be in the pipeline) and rumors of the service all started to make sense.
In March it was revealed that the goal of Battlefield Premium is to offer content drops for Battlefield 3 at an earlier date, and with some special in-game items (like dog tags and knives) that can be found nowhere else. To make matters even worse for EA, but better for gamers, a fact sheet has also leaked that details all the features that Battlefield Premium unlocks including priority in server queues and exclusive Double XP weekends. Even more important than that, though, the fact sheet labels the service as carrying a $50 price tag.
It's all but a formality that Electronic Arts will unveil Battlefield Premium, but still we have to do this dance since they want to announce it during their E3 2012 Press Conference. And what do you know; EA's press conference just so happens to be on June 4th.
Gamers can expect an announcement about Battlefield 3's new DLC and potentially Battlefield Premium in the next few days, June 4th to be specific, as both (one officially and one supposedly) are set to make their debut very soon. Hopefully DICE and EA have learned from the mistakes of Activision and plan to make this a really successful service for Battlefield fans.
Would you be willing to pay $50 for early access to Battlefield 3's upcoming DLC and a bunch of special unlocks? Should they have unveiled Battlefield Premium a little earlier.
Source: PlayStation Blog Europe (via Joystiq), VG 24/7