Battlefield 1943 bombarding XBLA, PSN next week

EA Dice has quite a stockpile of Battlefield games in its arsenal. Last week, the Swedish developer opened up with Battlefield Heroes, a free-to-play, microtransaction-supported online action game for the PC. Today, EA DICE prepared for its next report, announcing that Battlefield 1943 will be available through Xbox Live on July 8 and the PlayStation Network on July 9 for $15 (1,200 Microsoft points). A PC edition is expected in September.

Originally slated for release in June, Battlefield 1943 is a download-only, multiplayer-only first-person shooter. The game lets 24 combatants mix it up on land, air, and sea. Players can assume a number of different play styles as either the US Marines or the Imperial Japanese Navy, including a trench-warfare rifleman grunt, a heavy-armor tank commander, or a nimble fighter pilot.

Gamers will initially have access to three maps that were inspired by battlegrounds found in 2002's Battlefield 1942: Wake Island, Guadalcanal, and Iwo Jima. According to EA Dice, a fourth map--Coral Sea--will be unlocked as a part of a "worldwide community challenge," in which players must "work together to reach 43,000,000 kills" across the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 editions of the game.

Looking beyond Battlefield 1943, EA Dice still has two more Battlefield shooters waiting in the wings. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is expected to ship out for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC in early 2010, and EA has also confirmed that Battlefield 3 is also in development.

For more information, check out GameSpot's previous coverage of Battlefield 1943.