According to a Russian website, which claims to have details on a new patch, Bad Company for PC will be getting an infantry-only mode, alongside several improvements, like a better chat function and the ability to toggle on/off crouch and zoom. Knife-combat is set to be improved as well. Also, there appears to be a new map as well, but this remains unconfirmed (and unlikely, a this point).

We’ll have more details soon, and DICE is expected to make an announcement in a few days time. No news on whether the infantry-only mode will be carried over to consoles as well.

According to the official stats of Bad Company 2, a new weapon has come up, the M1 Bayonette, which is listed as a “gadget”, with a description as “Special Unlock: WWII Weapon”. This might indicate a new gadget unlock to be released in the future, perhaps as a part of a DLC with new WW2 maps.

In a recent interview with Xbox World 360 magazine, DICE producer Patrick Bach said that the developer doesn’t want to charge for DLC in order to keep the community satisfied, adding that they plan on releasing a lot of DLC for Bad Company 2.

However, when Joystiq went to confirm the statements from DICE, a representative from the company said,

“Unless they aren’t standard maps we won’t charge and there aren’t any in the plan that would cost.”

Publisher EA denied the notion that DLC will be free in the future, saying,

“We can’t comment on the future. But we’ll have more details on our DLC plans shortly“

As much as we’d like free DLC, we don’t expect EA nor DICE to keep releasing it for free — and the DLC that was released so far was already present on the disc. Given EA’s track record of these things, we assume they’ll have paid DLC just like in the rest of their games.

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.

After Valve announced Steam for Mac, there have been rumors flying around about other publisher bringing their games to Apple’s Mac platform, among them, Bad Company 2.

According to DICE producer Karl Magnus Troedsson, who Twittered that they’re “currently investigating the possibility of making BFBC2 available on Mac.”.

DICE and EA have released two Battlefield titles on Steam, and one title on the Mac platform a few years ago: Battlefield 2142, which wasn’t met with huge success. But then again, neither was the PC version.

We’ve been doing some digging over the past few weeks regarding the stats feed for Bad Company 2. In case you’re not familiar with a stats feed, it’s something EA provided with Battlefield 2 for site owners to create their own BF2 stats sites — it spawned a lot of communities and was very welcomed by BF2 players. EA promised to do the same with BF2142, but didn’t deliver.

While DICE hasn’t confirmed to us about a stats feed for Bad Company 2, our sources, which are close to DICE and EA, have all indicated that there will not be an open stats feed, and all stats/awards/ranks will be served within the in-game browser.

The feature apparently hasn’t been implemented in the PC nor console versions. In the original Bad Company, EA provided access to online stats for console players via the Veterans program, this also is unconfirmed for Bad Company 2.

While it’s ultimately disappointing that the PC version won’t have an open stats feed or API, Bad Company 2 is still a console port and that feature was never intended for consoles. However, seeing how greatly the community could benefit from a stats feed, it’s a shame DICE isn’t offering it.

According to rumors at BFeditor.org, there were 12 map loading screens found in the PC beta files, which of course suggests that there might indeed be 12 maps.

However, the official word from DICE is that there are only 8 maps, as printed at the back of the box and featured in the new field manual. However, one DICE employee suggested as many as 16 maps (!) in an interview with IGN.

On the other hand, we also know that ESRB ratings suggested maps which include “WW2 settings”, namely, the maps from Battlefield 1943 — which could be released as DLC later on (DLC has already been confirmed). That would bring the total to 11 maps (8 + 3 DLC). The last one could very well be the rumored remake of Strike at Karkand, as we reported earlier.

According to ESRB rating’s description of Bad Company 2 seems to include World War 2 levels, like the ones present in Battlefield 1943. Here’s what the ESRB certificate said, in part:

“…players conduct missions on an unnamed Japanese island during World War II and then move into the modern day.”

Since ESRB gets to review the complete and final game, it’s quite possible that we’ll see one or more maps imported from Battlefield 1943 — BC2 already has several of the weapons available from BF 1943. You can read the full ratings description here.

We’ve been tipped off by a reader who knows someone, who knows someone (etc.) who has details about a possible free DLC for Bad Company 2, which would include the famous Strike at Karkand map — by far the most played and popular map not only in BF2, but online shooters in general. The map will allegedly have the same outlines and proportions of the BF2 map, but will be limited to the 32 player version, as seen on the screenshot above. Likewise, it will include the same vehicles (the LAV-25 and BRT-90 APCs are apparently set to return), and spawn points.

All we can say is: bring it! Nothing Would be as awesome as a remake of Karkand with destruction 2.0. Of course, this isn’t official and DICE hasn’t said anything about it. If the map is to be released, it’ll certainly be a while after launch, as otherwise, most players would simply ignore the original maps in BC2 and go straight to Karkand.

We sure as hell would.

We’re proud to announce the brand new Battlefield Bad Company 2 Blog! We’ll be covering all aspects of the upcoming Battlefield Bad Company 2 game, and will bring you the latest news, updates, rumors and much more. Stay tuned!