After the recent furor over the weapons included with Battlefield: Bad Company that apparently are only available as a separate purchase, Electronic Arts emailed Game|Life to point out that things aren't exactly as they seem.

The weapons, they claim, are not all mere cash grabs. Instead, they are a combination of content to be released via "promotional programs" and weaponry to be included with Bad Company's collector's edition release.

The tags currently attached to the weapons saying "Buy this weapon on Xbox Live Marketplace" refer to gamers' ability to purchase the weapons even if they miss the promotional events or only purchase the standard edition of the game, EA says.

Five of the guns the beta currently has tagged as for sale on Xbox

Live Marketplace are actually going to be packed into the upcoming "Gold

Edition" of the game, a special version that includes additional content for a higher price tag than the standard release.

Those weapons will also be available to players of the regular edition from Xbox Live Marketplace.

The remaining five are to be released by EA through a series of pre-launch "free of charge promotional events."

Details on the Gold Edition and the planned pre-launch promotional campaign should be coming soon.

See Also:

Image: Earnest Cavalli/Wired