During Battlefield: Bad Company beta test, player found out that several weapons are locked, with a notation saying that they are "Available for purchase on Xbox Live Marketplace".
Understandably, this caused quite an uproar. The way Battlefield fans saw it, those who pay more will have more weapons to choose from, making it unfair for other players.
EA released an official response confirming the news but explaining that those weapons won't affect the multiplayer battles' fairness.
" Battlefield: Bad Company features numerous weapons in the core game", reads the official response. "In addition to the core set of weapons, Battlefield: Bad Company will release five unique weapons free of charge through five different promotional programs prior to launch. EA will again make these weapons available to players free of charge after launch, in case anyone missed the pre-launch promotions."
"At launch, EA will release a Gold Edition of Battlefield: Bad Company which will feature an additional five new weapons. For players who do not purchase the Gold Edition of the game, they can still buy the five weapons at a small individualized price per item. All weapons are balanced for gameplay. More weapons offer players more choices but do not create an advantage/disadvantage for players who do not opt to buy new items."
"Currently, the menu in the Battlefield: Bad Company beta notes all ten weapons; the five available free of charge pre-launch as well as the additional five available in the Gold Edition.
We will have more details on the pre-launch campaign and Gold Edition of Battlefield: Bad Company in the next few weeks."