UPDATE (11/14/2013): After many complaints from the community about the lack of availability of graphics cards that actually HAD the Battlefield 4 bundle included with them, AMD is attempting to clarify the situation. In a statement sent through email, AMD says that the previous information sent to press "was not clear and has led to some confusion" which is definitely the case. While it was implied that all customers that bought R9 series graphics cards would get a free copy of BF4, when purchased on or after November 13th, the truth is that "add-in-board partners ultimately decide which select AMD Radeon R9 SKUs will include a copy of BF4."
So, how are you to know what SKUs and cards are actually going to include BF4? AMD is trying hard to setup a landing page at http://amd.com/battlefield4 that will give gamers clear, and absolute, listings of which R9 series cards include the free copy of the game. When I pushed AMD for a timeline on exactly when these would be posted, the best I could get was "in the next day or two."
As for users that bought an R9 280X, R9 270X, R9 270, R9 290X or R9 290 after the announcement of the bundle program changes but DID NOT get a copy of BF4, AMD is going to try and help them out by offering up 1,000 Battlefield 4 keys over AMD's social channels. The cynic in me thinks this is another ploy to get more Facebook likes and Twitter followers, but in truth the logistics of verifying purchases at this point would be a nightmare for AMD. Though I don't have details on HOW they are going to distribute these keys, I certainly hope they are going to find a way to target those users that were screwed over in this mess. Follow www.facebook.com/amdgaming or www.twitter.com/amdradeon for more information on this upcoming promotion.
AMD did send over a couple of links to cards that are currently selling with Battlefield 4 included, as an example of what to look for:
- XFX Double D R9 280X TDFD – $304.99 (Newegg.com)
- XFX R9 290 AENFC – $419.99 (Newegg.com)
As far as I know, the board partners will also decide which online outlets to offer the bundle through, so even if you see the same SKU on Amazon.com, it may not come with Battlefield 4 as well. It appears in this case, and going forward, extreme caution is in order when looking for the right card for you.
END UPDATE (11/14/2013)
AMD announced the first Never Settle on October 22nd, 2012 with Sleeping Dogs, Far Cry 3, Hitman: Absolution, and 20% off of Medal of Honor: Warfighter. The deal was valued at around $170. It has exploded since then to become a choose-your-own-bundle across a variety of tiers.
This bundle is mostly different.
Basically, apart from the R7 260X (I will get to that later), all applicable cards will receive Battlefield 4. This is a one-game promotion unlike Never Settle. Still, it is one very good game that will soon be accelerated with Mantle in an upcoming patch. It should be a good example of games based on Frostbite 3 for at least the next few years.
The qualifying cards are: R9 270, R9 270X, R9 280, R9 280X, R9 290, and R9 290X. They must be purchased from a participating retailer beginning November 13th.
The R7 260X is slightly different because it is more familiar to Never Settle. It will not have access to a free copy of Battlefield 4. Instead, the R7 260X will have access to two of six Never Settle Forever Silver Tier games: Hitman: Absolution, Sleeping Dogs, Sniper Elite (V2), Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, DiRT 3, and (for the first time) THIEF. It is possible that other silver-tier Never Settle Forever owners, who have yet to redeem their voucher, might qualify as well. I am not sure about that. Regardless, THIEF was chosen because the developer worked closely with AMD to support both Mantle as well as TrueAudio.
Since this deal half-updates Never Settle and half-doesn't… I am unsure what this means for the future of the bundle. They seem to be simultaneously supporting and disavowing it. My personal expectation is that AMD wants to continue with Never Settle but they just cut their margins too thin with this launch. This will be a good question to revisit later in the GPU lifecycle when margins become more comfortable.
What do you think? Does AMD's hyper-aggressive hardware pricing warrant a temporary suspension of Never Settle? I mean, until today, they were being purchased without any bundle what-so-ever.
Qualifying R9-Series Cards (purchased after Nov 13 from participating retailers) can check out AMD's Battlefield 4 portal.
Qualifying R7 260X owners, on the other hand, can check out the Never Settle Forever portal.
I hate how they told us it
I hate how they told us it was just the 290X, so everyone went out and bought BF4 already.
Wait so I have an AMD NEVER
Wait so I have an AMD NEVER SETTLE FOREVER coupon I got with my 7950 and it says that it’s valid until December 31st, 2013 but THIEF comes out in February 2014. I went to go redeem it today to see what games are being offered, and although it says right on the front page “Choose THIEF today!” it doesn’t let me choose THIEF. I’m really confused about this am wondering if anybody can clear up the what the deal with all this is.
Funny how nvidia has got so
Funny how nvidia has got so much flakk for something like this? Time for AMD to get their own. “Never Settle” seems like have to Settle to me.
I hate how i just bought a
I hate how i just bought a Gigabyte R9-270x last week, and I see this promotion. I’ll have to wait till any Christmas or New Year sales for BF4 on sale.
You’re missing out on game
You’re missing out on game crashes persisting weeks after release, battlepacks that include advantageous weapon upgrades that can only be earned in random draws, and forthcoming player-base fracturing DLC.
Oh yeah, did I mention that you can only rent servers from pre-approved EA partners? You know that decade-plus personal relationship with your game server host? Flush that down the toilet.
If you join a server where you were disconnected due to a game crash and rejoin the server before the map is over, all the XP earned before the crash is lost, padding out an already archaic progression system even more.
Don’t get me wrong, the game is still fun, just not without its setbacks. There’s nothing else on the market that offers an arcady combined arms gameplay, so take what you can get, I guess.
least with random draw you
least with random draw you have chance to get stuff instead of having to dedicate 8 hours a day for a month to get everything.
progress through the
progress through the attachments that can be earned is fairly rapid really, as long as you stick to one or two kits.
I have weapon attachments from kits that I’m likely to never earn the actual weapon. seems the primary downside to the system.
it’s been out 2 “weeks” just
it’s been out 2 “weeks” just to temper that statement.
random draws are silly. I just got my first weapon attachment for a weapon i have unlocked 🙁
they raised server prices also, double BS on them.
disconnect and rejoin was like that in BF3…but server crashes weren’t so frequent.
when it’s working well BF4 is a fantastic game. I’ll be there through it all.
Been an avid BF fan since
Been an avid BF fan since 1942, but the way EA customer service treated me when BF 3 was crashing for me the first 4-6 months, while CS kept blaming my PC, EA and DICE has lost me as a customer forever, fuck them and their DLC greed!
Really sucks that they seem
Really sucks that they seem to have said “F U” to early adopters, i.e. their best customers, i.e. silly people like me.