EA confirm Battlefield 3 Premium Edition, includes all DLC and Premium access
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EA have announced that they've managed to fit all of Battlefield 3 and its available DLC into a single, economically sound collector's edition box. The all-encompassing Battlefield 3 Premium Edition (hinted at earlier this week) will cost you €59.99, or $69.99 dollars, and for your money you get access to Battlefield Premium (the game's paid-for member's club, entry to which earns you all future DLC and updates for free, and often in advance). The Premium Edition also includes a multiplayer welcome kit with in-game upgrades designed to get new players up to speed by showering them in 15 weapons, gadgets and vehicle upgrades.
In their annual financial report, EA have revealed that Battlefield Premium, their subscription service that nets you DLC and a bunch of camo skins for your soldiers, among a few other things, has 1.3 million subscribers. That’s after just two months of being live, which makes it a mighty impressive feat. 
Battlefield Premium has been out for a couple of days now, so we thought we’d hop online and see whether it’s worth throwing $50, £35 or 50 Euros at it. On the surface it seems extremely expensive: particularly for UK and European players who face a price increase over and above a standard exchange rate. 
EA are on a roll. Fresh from accidentally confirming that Battlefield Premium is definitely a thing, they've finally reveled the existence of two further DLC packs for Battlefield 3: Aftermath and End Game. 
Are DICE about to launch "Battlefield Premium"? That's the claim from a "reliable" source to Battlefield fansite, Battlefieldo. Battlefield 3 already has comprehensive stat tracking and clan management, so what else is there for Electronic Arts and DICE to tempt the fans into subscribing to?
According to the leak, the first dollop of Premium content for Battlefield will include: "one-of-a-kind Premium knife and black dog tag, plus a set of soldier camos, weapon camos, dog tags and Assignments that will make sure you stand out and get more personalization options." So weapons, vanity items and assignments, the sort of pre-order frippery that attracts attention but has little value to the long-term enjoyment of the game. Baubles. If that's all there is, then there's little threat to Call of Duty: Elite. What else could they provide? A lot, as it happens. 
This week, EA’s financials have shown that Battlefield 3 has taken prime position as its digital cash cow. You can see that from just how many people were on BF3 in March - over 6.3 million unique players. EA called it a ‘record year’ for Battlefield and is promising new content for us in May and June, including the Close Quarters expansion pack we’ve talked about elsewhere. [[[[add link]]]
