Gather Your Party

When the news about Osama Bin Laden’s death hit awhile back, Medal of Honor: Warfighter developer Danger Close Games said that it would not try to cash in on the event.

“That’s not our story to tell,” said Producer Greg Goodrich.

Apparently the temptation proved to be too great. While the Bin Laden assassination won’t factor into the storyline of Warfighter, a multiplayer map pack based on the manhunt to find him will be released as paid DLC.

The DLC is being made as part of a licensing agreement with Sony Pictures and the upcoming Kathryn Bigelow film Zero Dark Thirty. While it is ostensibly based on the film, it will feature none of its plot elements or characters. The Bin Laden-themed maps will include two set in Pakistan: the Darra gun market and northern Chitral region, where it is believed that Bin Laden spent an extended period in hiding.

You’re probably thinking this whole thing sounds a little disgusting and exploitative. Don’t worry, EA predicted that! One dollar out of every copy of the DLC sold will be donated to various military charities through it’s Project Honor campaign. A minimum of $1 million will be donated out of the profits of the map pack. There, feel better now? No? Look! Shiny!

What this amounts to is pretty much an attempt to exploit the Bin Laden story to get some much-needed publicity for Warfighter, a game that basically nobody seems to be excited for, even after tacking on Battlefield 4 beta access, which is probably what led them to backpedal on their word not to do this sort of thing. It will be interesting to see whether the map pack’s controversial inspiration will help or hinder sales.