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VIP
As part of a program designed to encourage game purchases and reward the community, EA and DICE have confirmed that they will periodically release additional "VIP" content for Bad Company 2. On Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, this content will be available free to "VIP" players who purchased a new copy of the game. Owners of used copies will be able to purchase a VIP code for an additional cost from the respective system's online store. Owners of the PC version will receive this content for free regardless of ownership status.[14]
For console users, the VIP code will only work for one account per console. Many console owners have multiple user accounts on one console, and in this case VIP content will only be available for the account on which the VIP code was activated. The only option is to ask EA support to transfer the console account (PSN or Xbox Live) without the VIP code to the EA account connected with the console account on which the code has been activated.
[edit] Limited edition
As a pre-order promotion, EA offered the Limited Edition of Bad Company 2 at normal pricing. By pre-ordering the Limited Edition, buyers of the PC version were given early access to the closed beta from January 28 to February 25.[15] In addition, owners of the Limited Edition on all systems were given early access to numerous weapons and vehicle perks, which included the M1A1 Thompson and an M1911 pistol, as well as four vehicle perks[16]
In addition to the six upgrades offered by EA on all pre-orders and the buyers of the Limited Edition, select retailers offered their own incentives as well. Copies pre-ordered at GameStop came with an additional code, unlocking the AKS-74U carbine and giving access to the Squad Rush game mode 30 days early (North America only). All six limited edition upgrades, as well as the AKS-74U, are also available to owners of the Standard Edition of the game, but they must be acquired by accumulating points in-game.