14 DAY TRIAL // Battlefield 3 is the victim of a brand new boycott maneuver waged by a group of gamers disgruntled over the fact that those who pre-order the upcoming first person shooter will get bonus features like the Back to Karkand map pack as well as the recently announced Physical Warfare Pack.
Electronic Arts has the habit of offering special bonuses to those who pre-order its games, ranging from a couple of special cars in the likes of Need for Speed: Shift 2 Unleashed, or the Black Emporium DLC for Dragon Age 2.
Now, with Battlefield 3, the company, alongside the developer of the game, DICE, is offering a special Back to Karkand DLC, which will be available for free to all who pre-order the game, and will need to be purchased for those that get it after the release.
This didn't cause any sort of reaction, but the recent announcement that the special Physical Warfare Pack is going to be bundled in Limited Edition of Battlefield 3 caused a large group of Reddit users to unite and call for a boycott of the game.
The Physical Warfare Pack was announced over the weekend by EA, for the UK market at least, and includes early access to special weapons for those that put money down for the game before its release.
"Type 88 light machine gun with bipod for superior firepower and total zone control, the SKS sniper rifle flash suppressor that provides increased stealth abilities for Recon soldiers, and the lethal armour-piercing flechette ammo for the DAO-12 semi-automatic shotgun that is sure to tear through anything in its path. Also included is day one access to the highly versatile DAO-12 semi-automatic shotgun itself."
The Reddit users believe that those who pre-order Battlefield 3 not only get the Back to Karkand map pack for free, while others need to pay for it, but these weapons give them an unfair advantage over those that don't want to put money down for the game. As such, they want EA to cancel this offer and give out the Karkan DLC for free to all buyers.
While the protest is now trying to target pre-order DLCs as a whole, there has been a range of mixed reactions over it, so we should wait for an official statement from EA or DICE in the near future.