You're probably wondering when the new, free Battlefield game is coming out. What's EA's answer? "Psych - it's already out!" That's right, contrary to what you heard, the game hasn't been delayed. You're just not part of the "in crowd."

DICE executive producer Ben Cousins revealed in an interview with GamesIndustry that Battlefield Heroes is currently in closed beta and "there is no real kind of big splash release date where suddenly it's available." Added Cousins: "We're going to have a very large closed beta almost to the point where every hardcore gamer in the world will probably be able to get a key if they want to."

They'll slowly expand the beta over the course of time until it has the same size audience as a retail product like Battlefield: Bad Company. It's expected to get to this point by the end of the year. Cousins likened this approach to the launch of Facebook.

It's an unusual way of rolling out a game but, then again, it's an unusual game. It will be free to download, with revenue coming from advertising and micropayments. The micropayments are small sums of money players can pay for new items to customize their character's appearance. Heroes will have a cartoon-ish, Team Fortress 2 look but will retain the basic gameplay of the Battlefield series, such as player classes and vehicular combat.