EA Games and DICE are cranking up the production machine as four new VIP maps are coming to Battlefield Bad Company 2 tomorrow, Battlefield Play4Free closed beta is active today, and Battlefield Bad Company 2 Vietnam has a release date.

To say there has been some sizzling news coming from DICE in the last month about Battlefield Bad Company 2 Vietnam may be an understatement, but at least fans can rest easy now that the add-on will launch on December 21 (December 22 for Europe).

Steam on the other hand is showing a release date of December 18, which may be the three day advance access for pre-ordering it. The add-on will cost $15 for the PC and PS3 versions - or 1,200 Microsoft Points for the Xbox 360.

The Vietnam add-on will bring four new maps, six vehicles (including the tuk-tuk), 15 weapons, music based on the era, and some new achievements or trophies. For those who can’t wait until the release, 32bita released a leaked video displaying the navigation options, weapons and vehicles for Battlefield Bad Company 2 Vietnam.

In preparation for the new Vietnam add-on and VIP Map Pack 7, DICE also rolled out a new patch to fix a few more balance issues. The update also contains all of the VIP Map Pack 7 information, so servers should automatically allow the new levels to run on them tomorrow. Some of the more notable balance issues that have been addressed are:

  • Fixed slug shotgun zoom crosshair on PC so they better represent the long range accuracy. Reduced slug shotgun hip accuracy to require zooming for consistent long range accuracy. Acog and Red dot scope now equippable on MK-14 and G3. Fixed a bug where Vehicle Countermeasures would fail to remove tracer darts at high speed. Reduced all weapon damage to the MCOM by 50%. Fixed a C4 vs MCOM exploit on Atacama Desert.

VIP Map Pack 7 will unlock four new maps: Cold War, Heavy Metal, Oasis and Harvest Day. DICE has also created a new trailer that features gameplay on the new maps, which notably shows some additions to the level destructibility.

Battlefield Bad Company 2 Vietnam will release for PC on December 18, and December 21 for Xbox 360 and PS3. VIP Map Pack 7 will be available tomorrow.

Now that DICE has slated updates and add-ons through the end of the year, when do you think Battlefield 3 will be the topic of discussion?