EA has announced that Battlefield Play4Free, the successor to Battlefield Heroes, has entered Open Beta and is now available to general public. This newest, free-to-play installment in the Battlefield franchise is based on the Battlefield 2 engine from 2005, and features many maps that were originally included in that game.
Play4Free was announced in November 2010, and will use a shop structure similar to the one found in Battlefield Heroes. Though the game is based on Battlefield 2, which featured eight different classes, Play4Free merely includes four. These four classes are similar to those in Battlefield: Bad Company 2.
Ben Cousins, who has been the general manager of the EA Play 4 Free division since its inception in 2009, announced last week that he will be leaving the organization. NO statement has been made regarding the future of his career.