New DLC was present in game files, was locked out?

A few players on the EA UK forums spotted the new Rush maps Laguna Presa (which was previously available as conquest) on Russian servers. The maps are set for release on March 30, and appear that they were already part of the game files, which leads us to believe that the maps were already present in the retail version of the game, but were locked out.

Game publishers — including EA — have been doing this for a while, locking out content already available and then offering it as DLC, or rather, unlock codes. We previously reported that there were a number of map files which didn’t correspond to DICE’s official map count, which further adds to the notion that some content was locked out.

On a lighter note, the upcoming DLC doesn’t include completely new maps, but rather, includes variations of two already available maps. Also, keep in mind that the DLC will be for free for those who purchased a new copy of the game, while those who bought it used will have to pony up.

Having said that, the DLC still doesn’t appear as “DLC”, but rather, just an unlock for content already present.