Instead, it's Battleforge, EA's card-trading strategy game. Not the most obvious choice, we know, but then, you gotta start somewhere.

A recent patch means the game now has "a higher frame rate and new ways of creating graphical effects, such as shadows and lighting", though with no DX11 cards on the market and Vista support not yet enabled, good luck trying to make that actually mean anything.

BattleForge becomes first DirectX11-enabled game [Big Download]

The BattleForge Renegade Edition card set is an expansion of the Renegade Campaign introduced earlier this year, which added the Southern Wastes region of Nyn to the game. The expansion brings two new support factions in the Bandits and Stonekin, plus a whole mess of legendary creatures and buildings to help bolster your line as you advance through the ranks.

The Renegade Edition cards are now available in the BattleForge in-game store, purchasable for $2.50 or 250 BattleForge points. Check out the game's official website to download and play for free.

As the head of EA, John Riccitiello can talk games better than most CEOs, and he can talk finances better than most gamers. Given the myriad tactics EA has been employing to sell its games and keep its games from being stolen lately, I had to talk to him last week at E3 for an update about the economics of playing.

I started with the most dramatic price-change EA may have ever made on a video game, the drop of real-time-card-battle game Battleforge from full-priced PC game when it launched in April of this year down to free in late May, supported by for-pay microtransactions. I asked him how that was working out. "Revenue's up," Riccitiello said, before gathering himself for a more thorough answer.

"I feel like you're sort of asking me how the party's going, but the party starts at nine and it's 10 to nine," he said. "I don't have enough good data to give you a great answer. I would say that, as a packaged goods product competing with high-end PC games, it's a highly-polished experience that provides really good core-gamer-satisfying experience. As an intellectual property, it has an exceptionally narrow audience of people willing to pay $49 for that. … It was a product that, if this was a model shop, it's the group that builds ships in a bottle. It's a really small audience, and we found them. Not that many of them. As a free to play game, it's got 25x the production values of anything out there that's comparable."

EA's hope is that games like Battleforge, which got solid reviews can thrive with the support of microtransactions, gamer-purchases for items and add-ons. Riccitiello said that EA's free-plus-microtransaction games, which also include the Korean version of FIFA, have shown the ability to generate more money per user than they'd get from those users had they been full-priced games. Of course, not every user buys items in those free games. But those who do, spend lots.

Free-to-play games present an economic model for games that Riccitiello said EA can't miss, despite its challenges: "There's probably no harder platform to build and deploy for than free-to-play," he said, noting that there's far less structure for that market than there is for the full-priced console gaming. "You don't know what device [gamers are] going to play on and how they're going to want to participate. If you don't refresh the community, the pricing, the assets on a daily basis, they're going to get bored. It's a complicated process, but it's good. ... I think ultimately we can't get in the way of what the consumer wants, because the consumer wants different business models."

On the other side of things, EA has shifted from the pricing experiment of offering downloadable content for the early 2008 racing game Burnout Paradise from free to for-money. The game was launched in a January and, in April, July and Septemberhad, had free DLC consisting of new multiplayer modes and the ability to race motorcycles, among other things. The game's next major update, released 13 months after the game's launch, was the first one that EA charged for: a new Party Mode re-mix of the game,. Subsequent DLC packs, including a new island which was priced just this week, have been for pay.

Riccitiello says EA learned that that roll-out plan for Burnout's DLC was not ideal. Knowing what the company knows now, he said, "that heavy-duty downloadable content would have been available shortly after launch and would have bridged the original purchase of the game to downloadable content, some free, some pay from the outset. We essentially didn't do that. We went dark on the consumer and then came back, which is probably not the smartest way of keeping the community together. Going back to that party, we sort of turned the lights off and threw them out and then we started the punch bowl. Some of them came back. And then more of them came back and then a lot of them came back. People who pirated the game came back. I think this is an area where we're all really learning."

And speaking of pirates, no matter what EA charges for a game, there will be people who want to make EA's games free-to-play on their own terms. That's the nice way of saying what happened to The Sims 3 recently. "We got pirated three weeks before the game launched," Riccitiello said. "And we were really quite nervous about it. We had a lot of telemetry about what the pirates were doing because the launcher was in the version of the disc [that got out.]… There's a lot of Chinese and Polish among those consumers. We know what they're doing. And we finally concluded that we were very happy that almost a million people downloaded the Fight Night demo in the first couple of days we put it out. And in a weird sort of way, the behavior we're starting to see based on sell-through and registration [with the Sims 3] is that we really might have just put out a really good demo."

Riccitiello laughed at his own remark, because he doesn't quite mean it seriously. I pointed out that he might not want to hold his breath waiting for all those Sims 3 pirates to convert to paying customers. "I don't think they will, based on their geography," he said. The point he was making, he said, is that EA's concern over being pirated gave way to a new, more constructive thought: "We were like, 'I think they've demoed the game.' That's probably good. We probably should have posted it on our website."

What the Sims 3 pirates got — what all consumers of The Sims 3, in fact, are getting — is a game disc that doesn't include all the game's features. Only activating the game online gives players access to the game's second town and most of the community features vital to the franchise's vibrant community of content creators and sharers. That stuff, Riccitiello said, is the kind of approach he's happier to take than to load a game up with Digital Rights Management restrictions, as EA had done with Spore. "To quote [Valve founder] Gabe Newell badly, DRM won't work unless you add value."

What this all adds up to, according to Riccitiello, is an EA that is changing its fundamental nature and the manner with which its products connect to consumers. "I often described EA as a packaged goods company," he said. "In Fiscal 10 [EA's financial year, ending March 2010], we're still a packaged goods company that connects to a lot of online services and features. But it's still a packaged good at its core. I think while we'll have big packaged goods sales in Fiscal 11 and 12 — they'll be larger in this year and continue to grow — we're going to feel more like an online services company, with a disc as an enabler of service."

That, he said, is exactly what EA executed with The Sims 3. Get the game and watch it expand. In Riccitiello's terms — well actually one he got from his daughter, he said, — the game, once launched should feel connected and "alive."

That's where all this should lead, however we all pay for it.

To download the Play 4 Free version of BattleForge you just need to visit www.battleforge.com and click Play 4 Free.

The free version of the game, which was price dropped to $30 earlier this month, will include all of the community features, scenarios, the recently launched Renegade campaign and 32 of the 200 trading cards used in the game.

Players will be able to add more cards to their collection by purchasing points online. The $30 retail version will still be available and include cards from all four factions plus 3,000 BattleForge points.

If you're pondering if it's worth the time, here's our review of the game.

I love the term "competitive pricing strategy". It's a lovely way to say that not enough people were buying the game, so we lowered the price. The new price makes a great deal more sense than the original $50 price tag, especially for a game that has players purchasing in-game cards for real-world money.

$29.99 is a pretty good deal for the game, though I get the feeling that eventually this is one of those titles that will be available for next to nothing, relying solely on card purchases to generate revenue.

Developed by EA's Phenomic, BattleForge is an intriguing mix of real-time strategy and collectible card game on a massively multiplayer online level. Where a standard real-time strategy game has units with various powers and abilities, BattleForge has a set of 200 cards, from which players can build their own customized army. After selecting a mix of cards from from four elemental spheres - fire, frost, shadow, and nature - players take to the field, completing single player and co-operative missions or simply battling it out between themselves. Need more cards? EA is more than happy to oblige, with booster packs available for purchase via the game's online store using real-world cash.

It's certainly an interesting concept, but what about the execution? Is BattleForge just a waste of money that could otherwise be spent on real tiny paper cards, or should you totally tap that?

Loved

Quick And Dirty RTS: At the heart of BattleForge is a quick and dirty real time strategy game that is perfect for players that love the concept of the genre but don't want to deal with the micromanagement of a deeper title. There are really only two resources to keep track of, and once you've captured them they are yours until the enemy takes them out. Dropping units onto the battlefield happens nearly instantaneously, so as long as you have the power and the orbs (think mana), you can have an army set to attack or defend in no time flat. Some might consider it a bit too easy, but the bulk of the strategy lies in countering your opponents forces, whatever they wind up being.

Pick A Card, Any Card: A traditional real-time strategy game features a number of factions with a limited number of units at their command. In BattleForge, the player picks their units, buildings, and special abilities from a pool of 200 different cards, with each deck they create effectively becoming their faction. The sheer number of combinations available make this one of the most versatile RTS games on the market, and that's before EA and Phenomic start releasing the inevitable expansion packs.

This Ain't Solitaire: While BattleForge includes a capable single-player mode, perfect for learning the ropes, much more enjoyment can be found by teaming up with 1, 2, or 11 other players in co-op missions. Co-op missions generally feature mechanics that require and promote working together intelligently, rather than simply creating as many units as you can and hoping for the best. One of the biggest joys of co-op is seeing what your fellow players bring to the table. You can learn a lot about deck building by watching what works for others.

The Titular Forge: The Forge can be a hell of a lot of fun, or a strategic boon...or both. Basically the Forge acts as a central hub for the game, but also a testing ground for your decks and strategies. You could spend hours simply placing your cards on the playfield to see what they look like, or build up defenses and then set enemies against them to see how you fair, or just randomly click the hell out of the enemy calvary spawning button to see how many will fit on the screen before your computer explodes. It's like a sandbox filled with fantasy war toys.

The Sheer Spectacle: While the cards are lovely and the battlefields well-rendered and detailed, BattleForge truly shines when two massive armies clash. Spell effects fill the screen, dozens of smaller units swing swords, cast magic, and fire arrows while gigantic behemoths wade through their ranks, with little or no slowdown, at least on my machine (see below). Some of the game's smaller frustrations can be completely forgotten in the heat of battle.

Buy, Sell, Trade: One of my major worries going into this review was that BattleForge would be complete unbalanced due to people with more money buying more cards. As it turns out, buying cards isn't too much of a factor when it comes to winning. Each deck only holds one of each card, so you don't have to worry about deck stacking, and can trade off extras using the game's trade channel or auction house, limited as the latter may be. There really are no "I Win" cards in the set. If you really worry about being on equal footing, Tome Duels are a form of PVP using decks built from one set on booster packs, or a Tome. Since the game comes with enough BattleForge points to purchase at least one Tome and a couple boosters, sticking to Tome Battles keeps things even, somewhat.

Hated

One Is The Loneliest Number: As entertaining as the multiplayer experience can be, the single-player missions in BattleForge play like a slightly above real-time strategy game, at best. The lack of real resource gathering makes it far too easy to simply steamroll over many of the game's objectives. Once you've captured your full allotment of power nodes - the globes necessary to activate your cards - everything becomes of matter of making sure you build as many troops as possible in the right places. Playing through the first through solo missions gives you a good enough feel for the game to move on to multiplayer, where the real fun lies. Also be warned that BattleForge is effective a massively multiplayer online game, so there is no playing offline.

Once Upon A Bleh: Phenomic missed a real opportunity to shine with BattleForge's background story. Some might argue that the story is secondary to the gameplay, but when the game features an entire book filled with lore regarding the world you are fighting for, one has a right to expect it to be entertaining. As it stands, the whole Skylords helping the poor humans reclaim the world bit is downright dull. Hopefully future expansions will add a bit more flavor to the flavor text.

The Chaos Factor: The wonderful variety that makes co-op such a pleasant and surprising experience has the reverse effect in player versus player matches. BattleForge allows players to buy additional cards, eventually massing up to 200 different units, spells, and fortifications to use in their deck creation. The sheer number of different deck combinations means you'll never know what you are going up against. On one hand, it forces you to adjust your strategy on the fly to try and counter any surprises thrown your way. On the other hand, that deck you worked so hard to balance can become relatively useless in the blink of an eye. It's an issue that any collectible card game faces. Some love the challenge, others prefer a more level playing field.

BattleForge is the sort of game where you get back what you invest, and happily in this case I'm not talking financially. Taking the game as it comes, utilizing the starting cards you are given and simply going to battle is a pleasant enough experience initially, but the deeper you delve into the art of deck building, learning how your units work together and complement each other, the more satisfying the game becomes. Investing a great deal of thought, time, and perhaps even money into developing your arsenal also tends to make the more chaotic nature of the collectible card game side of BattleForge frustrating on occasion, but if you can open your heart to a little chaos, you'll do just fine.

BattleForge is better than the sum of its parts. It's not a particularly deep real-time strategy game, and were it a real card game it would be rather rudimentary as well, but put the two together and give them a good shake and you've got a fast-paced card-based real time strategy game that's worth its weight in cards.

BattleForge was developed by EA Phenomic and published by Electronic Arts. It was released on March 23rd, 2009 for Windows PC. Retails for $49.99. Completed single-player missions on standard difficulty, multiple multiplayer co-op missions (both 2 and 4 player), and lost many PVP battles, both open deck and Tome. Spent only the included allotment of points on new cards.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

I've actually had some time to tool around in the beta for BattleForge recently, and I have to say they've executed the fusion of cards and real time strategy quite nicely. The only problem with it at this point is you really have to purchase new cards if you've any hope of getting anywhere against opponents who've invested heavily into bolstering their forces.

I'd highly suggest heading over to the website and trying out the open beta, see if the game is for you. I'm still on thee fence. My heart says yes, but my wallet screams no.

Starting today, participating in the BattleForge beta is as simple as downloading the client and creating an EA account, for those of you who haven't already done so. Log in with your EA account once the game finishes patching, create a character, and start playing. As a special added bonus for trying out the game a month early, everyone who participates in the open beta receives a special upgraded Firedancer card once the game goes live on March 26th. Not being familiar with the cards and what they do, I am going to assume this is a good thing.

BattleForge Beta Opens Its Doors [Official Website - Thanks Malte!]

BattleForge will be available for purchase for both the PC on March 24th, but players keen on making a go of it might want to consider preordering the game to get a leg up on the competition. Preordering the game not only nets you four exclusive units - one for each of the four elements represented in the game - but also levels up your character from the get go, giving you a distinct advantage over those who don't care enough to part with a little money early.

Players wishing to try out the game can sign up now at www.BattleForgeCardHunt.com for the open beta. Give it a try, and if you like it, buy it...early.

"After three years in development, we are very excited to open the game to a mass audience and see how people play. It’s going to be a great process watching players experience the revolutionary concept of creating their own armies and teaming up on a massive scale in RTS," said Volker Wertich, Creative Director.

The game features single player and co-op scenarios, but the real fun is sure to be found in PVP duels, where you can go one on one, two on two, four on four, or participate in massive 12 player battles. Yum.

Phenomic Reveals Open Beta Details for BattleForge

Gamers Worldwide Get Ready for the BattleForge Open Beta on November 7th

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Phenomic™, an Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) studio, today announced that the open beta for BattleForge™ will begin on November 7th. In the open beta, fans from all over the world will be able to start collecting their favorite cards and experience magically-charged battles online. Players can register for the open beta at www.battleforgecardhunt.com. In North America, players are guaranteed access into the beta by pre-ordering BattleForge from participating retail partners.

Developed in Ingelheim, Germany, BattleForge is an epic real-time strategy (RTS) fantasy game that combines the elegance of RTS gameplay with the collectability of trading cards in an online environment where friends can play together. BattleForge pioneers strategy gaming with its online multiplayer design and robust community. Players can get in the game by purchasing the title at retail in early 2009 and then take their game online to play with the larger BattleForge community.

"After three years in development, we are very excited to open the game to a mass audience and see how people play. It’s going to be a great process watching players experience the revolutionary concept of creating their own armies and teaming up on a massive scale in RTS," said Volker Wertich, Creative Director.

In BattleForge, players use virtual trading cards to build the perfect army and lay waste to their foes. The cards are the tools of war each representing a unit, building or spell that is conjured directly onto the RTS battlefield. They enable you to customise and combine factions, and play with a unique army of your own design. With no base building and production queues BattleForge players are instantly immersed into fast-paced RTS action.

BattleForge features single-player and cooperative scenarios as well as Player vs. Player ranked duels. Co-op battles are played in teams of two or four, or players can hurl themselves into epic 12 player battles for the greatest rewards. Players must work cooperatively to fulfill the mission and be victorious.

Featuring action-packed co-op and PvP, the ability to build your own army, and robust community features like auction hall, direct trade and in-game mail, BattleForge offers unique RTS gameplay that is easy to learn, but hard to master.

Developed at Phenomic, BattleForge will ship in Early 2009 for the PC. This product is not yet rated by PEGI or ESRB. For more information about the BattleForge open beta, visit www.BattleForge.com.

1 Requires online connectivity.

During last night's EA event Richard Leinfellner, executive producer of the game and video president of developer Phenomic, walked the press through a quick co-op battle.

While Battleforge has single player and versus modes, it appears that it's really, at its heart, a cooperative game, supporting up to 12 players.

To play, players first build a deck from the cards they've collected by working through the campaign, which rewards gamers with new cards, trading online or buying booster packs.

Once the deck has been built, players use these cards to summon their armies, there are no production buildings or resource management, instead you fight to capture territories, which gives you the ability to summon larger and larger creatures.

In the demo we were shown one of the players used more of the aggressive, direct attack cards, while the other player used cards that were more about support and healing. While most of the cards we saw summoned creatures, which were then controlled like units in a typical real-time-strategy game, some of the cards were spells that did direct damage. The Inferno card, for instance, dropped comets onto an area.

Some of the game's creatures have specific abilities, for instance the Juggernaut, which is a massive creature that deals high levels of damage, also can charge it's way through enemy walls and fortifications.

The demo ended after the two players worked together to take down a sort of boss enemy. Once the enemy was defeated both players won his card, which they were then able to use in future battles. So winning a battle in campaign, gives you this permanent reward.

After the demo I tracked down Dirk Ringe, one of the development team members, to quiz him on some of the ins and outs of the game. Unfortunately, I couldn't check the game out because they were having some technical issues when I went by.

The game will support co-op up to 12 players and versus up to four. There will also be the ability to play through maps as a single player, but it doesn't sound like that's really the game's focus.

Ringe said the company plans to sell booster packs for the game starting with its launch, though you won't need to buy them if you don't want to. Essentially these packs will be a collection of random cards which might make deck building easier, but won't really give you a leg up on your competition. The game will include a robust system designed to allow gamers to permanently trade cards with one another, to bolster and fine-tune their decks. It won't support the ability to compete for cards, but players could always try the honor system.

From what I saw of the game it looks like it has quite a bit of potential, I like the idea of stripping away some of the resource management aspects of strategy gaming and making it a bit more about the combat.

"BattleForge is the next step in compelling RTS gameplay by taking the battles completely online," stated Executive Producer & Vice President Richard Leinfellner. "With co-op play, challenging tournaments, Guilds, chat rooms and a robust marketplace for trading and buying your cards; BattleForge is the first RTS to add integral social and community components to an exciting fantasy RTS."

EA's BattleForge Catapults PC Gamers into Multiplayer Online Melees Build Unique Armies and Team Up for Epic Battles in a New Fantasy RTS Game

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced that the multi award-winning EA Phenomic Studio based in Germany is developing BattleForgeTM, a new fantasy online real-time strategy game where you assemble your own army with collectible trading cards. Win, trade and buy your cards online to create your ultimate deck.1 Mix and match the elements of your cards to play with your friends online and conquer massive online battlegrounds.

For mortals caught in a clash between insane gods and ancient giants, standing together is the only option. Using the forces of Fire, Frost, Nature and Shadow a mysterious Forge which makes legends come to life, is their single hope to create armies powerful enough to overcome these impossible odds. It is now time to set out and reclaim an epic fantasy world which has been overthrown by sinister powers in the twilight of a dying sun.

"BattleForge is the next step in compelling RTS gameplay by taking the battles completely online," stated Executive Producer & Vice President Richard Leinfellner. "With co-op play, challenging tournaments, Guilds, chat rooms and a robust marketplace for trading and buying your cards; BattleForge is the first RTS to add integral social and community components to an exciting fantasy RTS."

Under development at EA Phenomic, BattleForge is expected to ship in Fall 2008 for the PC. This product is not yet rated by PEGI or ESRB.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS™, EA™, EA SPORTS BIG™ and POGO™. In fiscal 2007, EA posted revenue of $3.09 billion and had 24 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.

EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS BIG, POGO and BattleForge are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

1 Disclaimer: Complete game available with box copy purchase. Microtransactions not required to play game, only for new cards

Thanks to the FalseBlue Magic: the Gathering Card Generator