Battlefield 1942 is now free to play at Origin...

[Poow]

Reminder: Two months before the EA pulls the plug on it being free. So for those who haven't gotten it downloaded. Do it as ASAP!

Okay, this is huge.

Download: http://origin.com/demos
FAQ: http://www.battlefield.com/battlefield-1942

Can I play online against players who have the original disc-based version?

Unfortunately, no. This Origin digital download version can only be played against other players who are using the same version. But since it’s free for everyone, everyone can download their own copy of the game. This version of the game will only show applicable (new) servers in the server browser.

Can I use this version of the game together with old Battlefield 1942 mods?
* This is untested and we cannot guarantee any mod functionality.

crashfix?
no punkbuster?#
I expect a new patch in the future

[freddy]

Its chaos right now, EA put up a bunch of servers and its over 2000 players online, but no admins and players with -40 lol

Its a new server version but it works with the bfmanager.

[Diamondback]

Does the version you download via the Origin platform include, at least, PunkBuster?

[GoodDayToDie!!]

This is turning out to be a very disappointing day! We need all the existing players to reinstall!!?? Otherwise, we are split in two factions. A chance that every known existing bf server (mods included) will switch to new copy? I doubt it.

[fo0k]

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.

[reegad]

IS82 TESTED AND WORKS LIKE A CHARM ON THE NEW VERSION, DO NOT DOUBT THIS, THIS IS THE BEST THING HAPPENING SINCE THE LAST BF1942 PATCH.

WE ARE ALLREADY WORKIN ON A NEW VERSION OF IS82, SHOWING BF1942s FULL POTENTIAL

[GoodDayToDie!!]

Sweet! I was a little confused at first....This is good stuff though!! Winning!

[Apache Thunder]

Very interesting. Enough so that it has (partially) awakened me from my modding slumber.

As soon as my torrent of a movie I will not mention by name is done downloading, I will reinstall Origin, and give it a look over. Perhaps they did some alterations to the game engine beyond stripping the DRM and adding Origin related bells and whistles. Might even move my BFH42 mod over to the free version. Might catch on since the free version will most certainly have a larger multiplayer community then the old paid version.

I'm betting they at least made it more stable in Windows 7. That alone might convince me to migrate my mods over to it.

[Diamondback]

Does anybody know if when the distribution of the free package is over, they will remove the free patch as well leaving only the old paid version? I know the said distribution ends in March of 2013.

[Apache Thunder]

Not sure. If they end the "Free" part it will likely continue to exist on Origin as a paid app. Givin the age of BF1942 I doubt they would charge a whole lot for it. It may be around $5 to $10 if/once the game goes back to paid version.