Average Battlefield Heroes buyer spends $20 in game

EA's Battlefield Heroes might be free-to-play, but the publisher is making an average of USD 20 from every player who spends money in the game, according to EA analytics manager Rommy Ghaly.

The microtransactions model seems to be working well for the title, with players spending considerable amounts on customising their characters in particular.

76 per cent of all 'Battlefunds' - the game's currency - are spent on these customisation items, Ghaly told IGN. With the top five in order of popularity being the Kommendant's Coat, the Special Forces Officer Cap, Maverik's Sunglasses, the Elite Camo Trousers and the Marksman's Honor.

Advancement widgets, which allow players to earn hero abilities and buy better weapons, are also proving popular, while the remaining five per cent of Battlefunds are spent on 'emotes', with flex and the robot dance being the most attractive, followed by laughing, throat-cutting and cheering.

Ghaly confirmed over 1.5 million users have now signed up to the game. These users, he said, are spread across 133 countries altogether; although 75 per cent of them come from just ten countries - the US, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, France, Sweden, Russia, Canada, Poland and Brazil. And since the game's closed beta began in February, the "Play Now" button has been pressed over 40 million times.

"Heroes is a live experiment in the gaming industry," said Ghaly, "so this data also allows us to see how close or how far off we were on our early predictions."

UPDATE: EA has pointed out via Twitter that the original information from IGN - that the average Battlefield Heroes player spends USD 20 - was a misquote. This figure was in fact intended to refer to the average buyer.