Battlefield 3: Premium Message Board

As part of its fiscal third quarter earnings release (PDF), EA has revealed that the Battlefield 3 Premium service has garnered a total of 2.9 million subscribers, nearly a million more than the publisher reported in October. Additionally, the service has netted Electronic Arts $108 million in sales.

Available either as an individual $50 purchase or as an included bonus with the Battlefield 3 Premium Edition, the Battlefield 3 Premium service offers in-game items, access to DLC and special Battlelog features like the ability to reset stats and gain server queue priority.

EA has knocked $20 off its Battlefield 3 re-release, the company announced today. Battlefield 3 Premium Edition was first announced back in August as a $69.99 package, but the publisher has reduced the price of admission to $59.99.

Battlefield 3 Premium Edition combines DICE's latest shooter with a Premium membership, necessary to access all of the game's expansions such as the previously released Back to Karkand and Close Quarters, this week's vehicle-based Armored Kill, and the next two packs set to drop later this year, Endgame and Aftermath. A "Multiplayer Head Start Kit" is also included in the package, unlocking "15 different weapons, gadgets and vehicle upgrades" in-game to fast-track newbies to the front lines.

Battlefield 3 Premium Edition is available today on the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.

The Battlefield 3 Premium service shows continued growth, with EA reporting "over 1.3 million subscriptions to date," a significant increase over the 800,000 reported in late June.

The $50 service provides early access to expansions and other DLC, along with other in-game items and the option to reset stats.

The Battlefield 3 "Aftermath" DLC is finally official. After getting leaked a few months ago, and being mentioned again last month, the add-on has now been described in more detail by EA. There will be four new maps that take place in "a post-earthquake Tehran," along with new vehicles, a new game mode, and new assignments, achievements and dog tags to earn.

This promo page also hints at new weapons for Battlefield 3: Aftermath. There's no indication of what the new game mode is just yet, or when the content will drop. Currently, the release date is listed as "TBA" for both premium and standard BF3 players, but given that EA's shared this information with us, the DLC probably isn't too far off.

In its first two weeks of availability, over 800,000 individuals have signed up for Battlefield 3 Premium. "We are very pleased with the performance so far," EA Games' Patrick Soderlund told USA Today. Still, Soderlund exercised caution on the outlook for Premium. "We're actually only two weeks into it, so it's a little early to tell how this is going to pay off. It certainly it looks very promising right now." Since launching in October, Battlefield 3 has shipped 15 million copies, Soderlund says.

Battlefield 3 Premium, announced a few weeks back at E3, gives those who plunk down a one-time fee of $50 early access to all DLC content, which non-Premium members must pay for piecemeal. The PS3 also has a weeklong exclusivity window for Battlefield 3 DLC - after that week, the DLC is then available to PC and Xbox 360. The first expansion pack, Close Quarters, is currently available on all platforms.

Those rocking the vanilla Battlefield 3 experience - as opposed to EA's new Premium subscription service - get their first crack at Battlefield 3's first big expansion today. The Close Quarters expansion pack, which aims to offer more personal conflicts in the FPS, is available exclusively to PS3 players today.

Premium members have had access to Close Quarters since earlier this month. And while the PS3 has an exclusivity deal in place for Battlefield 3 DLC, Xbox 360 and PC players won't have to wait too long: Close Quarters drops on those platforms next week.

Here's the direct trailer as shown at the E3 2012 press event for Battlefield 3: Premium.

Learn more about the digital membership, Battlefield 3: Premium, and the incredible amount of content it offers.