EA counters the analyst’s assumption, saying they intend to provide the ”best social, multiplayer FPS experience” with Battlelog with ”no plans to charge”.
Activision has of course unveiled their Call of Duty Elite platform which offers social networking tools, statistics and other perks but they will charge a premium subscription of $49.99 a year for the privilege when it goes live with Modern Warfare 3.
”Battlelog is a free service for Battlefield 3 players that will provide statistics, social networking tools, friend list management, squad setup, and platoons, all with built-in voice chat,” described analyst Michael Pachter.
”Although Battlelog and non-premium Elite memberships are free and offer many similar features, we think that many hard core Call of Duty gamers will opt for premium Elite, particularly if the total DLC spend for Battlefield 3 is expected to exceed $50.”
”Ultimately, we expect Electronic Arts to emulate Activision and charge for Battlelog by including map packs with the service for a $50 fee,” Pachter continued.
EA has hit back with talk of ‘no plans’ for any subscriptions.
”We are providing Battlelog to Battlefield 3 players to deliver the best social, multiplayer FPS experience in the market,” said the publisher.
”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.”
Will EA be plugging in a subscription model for Battlelog down the line? Sony eventually relented an introduced the PlayStation Plus premium service for their staunchly free PSN when they noticed Microsoft just raking in piles of Xbox Live subscription money.
Battlefield 3 releases on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC October 25th in the US, 28th in EU.
