Electronic Arts head honcho John Riccitiello now is admitting that some mistakes were made with the downloadable content roll-out plan for Burnout Paradise. On the eve of the release of the biggest content back yet for the title called Big Surf Island, the CEO reflected on what the company has learned.

When Burnout Paradise was released back in early 2008, it did turn a lot of heads, but the lack of additional content delays might have been less than ideal. While the developer Criterion did release content that was free consisting of multiplayer modes and additional motorcycles, these offerings were free.

When the next batch of DLC offerings for the title was released, the company seems to quickly have shifted from a free model to a pay model, which did cause the company to lose some players. The roll-out plan should have spaced the purchased content vs. free content a little more evenly, and releasing them sooner would have been a bit more ideal in order to continue to bridge the gap so that the game would have ongoing significant momentum.

The space between the content launches was just too far apart and going dark on the consumer was a mistake for this title, according to the CEO. While players are coming back, the way that the company handled things was just not community oriented enough to keep the community engaged in the title and interested in playing the game.

The Big Surf Island add-on marks a significant step for the title and it remains to be seen if many players will return. According to reports the add-on is the size of Paradise City itself and offers a lot of new challenges. The question remains, however, if this will be enough to get players re-engaged.

Beyond the lack of players actually playing the title, it also is a concern over the cost of the add-on. While the CEO has not directly commented on the price, he does think better planning and a mix of both free and pay content is necessary to keep players engaged in the title and coming back for more.