This past summer, many of you took part in our latest MAG Beta program to help us test out a number of new features slated for our recently-released update, MAG 2.0, and future DLC. Thanks to your devotion, we gathered a surplus of fantastic data that allowed us to make MAG a better game… and we’re not done yet!

Though the MAG 2.0 patch has been available since the end of September, the DLC portion of the beta has remained unreleased — but not for too much longer. Starting November 2, our three-faction gunplay whirlwind, the “Escalation” Add-on Pack, will be available for download from the PlayStation Store for $9.99 (US)!

But we aren’t stopping there.

To celebrate the release of the Escalation DLC, we’re offering two other deals to existing and would-be fans. Check this out:

• Interdiction Add-on Pack: Now $4.99 (US); reduced from original price of $9.99 (US)
• MAG Starter Kit: $14.99 (US): An almost $30 (US) value and everything new MAG users could want: Interdiction and Escalation Add-on packs, a 30-day trial for MAG character slots B and C, six official MAG PS3 avatars that sport Raven, SVER, and Valor characters and badges, and three dynamic PS3 themes (one for each PMC).

If you didn’t get a chance to play it in our MAG Beta, the Escalation add-on supports up to 96 players, or one 32-man platoon for each PMC, as a separate in-game mode that pits the forces of Raven, SVER, and Valor against each other at the same time. The aspirations for each PMC is to earn the requisite number of points before time runs out or, if time does expire, to have the most points overall. Whichever team meets this goal wins the map and additional Shadow War points.

Escalation gameplay is set up in two phases: For phase one, all three teams battle to hold the map’s A, B and C objectives — but when any of the three PMCs gains control of two of the three objectives, phase two begins. In this second phase, the original three objectives are locked and a new fourth objective (D) opens up. Now, the PMC that forced the phase shift must defend objective D against both attacking groups as long as possible; if D is lost, then play reverts back to phase one again and the war continues on until we have a winner or time runs out.

As beta players have already seen, Escalation offers three completely different environments (maps) to the MAG universe, including the volcanic beaches “Isla de Magma,” the mountainous “Silverback Ridge,” and the desert wasteland of “Radiant Barrens.” As an added bonus, our new add-on pack isn’t just made up of new maps – there are also nine previously-unavailable weapons we’re throwing into the mix too:

Raven: Gotha Elite (Assault Rifle) | KP21 (Machine Gun) | Kinmark SRS (Sniper Rifle)
SVER: Tamsen MK2 (Assault Rifle | Ariet SFW (Machine Gun) | Rubakho SVR (Sniper Rifle)
Valor: M31 CIR (Assault Rifle) | M245 (Machine Gun) | Sentinel M421 (Sniper Rifle)

If this sounds like your brand of DLC fun, we’ll see you again on November 2!