With all of the hoopla surrounding the release of both the Battlefield Bad Company 2 demo on the Xbox 360 and the beta of the PC version, some may find it interesting that while both the demo and beta introduce the “Squad Rush” game play mode, you may not be able to play it for the first 30 days after the title is launched.

Yes, that is correct: unless you pre-order the Xbox 360 or the PlayStation 3 version of Battlefield Bad Company 2 from GameStop prior to its launch date in North America on March 2nd, you will have to wait 30 days to play the “Squad Rush” multiplayer mode. However, those that pre-order will get a chance to enjoy the “Squad Rush” mode for 30 days before it is released for everyone to play. Those that have “Squad Rush” access due to their pre-order status will be able to invite friends that didn’t pre-order to play the “Squad Rush” mode during the exclusive 30-day access period. And, pre-orderers from GameStop will also enjoy access to the AKS-74 assault rifle regardless of the platform they place a pre-order for.

Apparently, however, things are less confusing for those planning to buy the PC version of the game. The PC version of the game, which is also slated for arrival on March 2nd, will have no such restriction; PC players will be able to play the “Squad Rush” mode right out of the box from day one, regardless of whether they pre-order.

As for those in Europe, it would appear that the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC version of the game will have no restriction, meaning that players outside of North America will be able to play the “Squad Rush” mode from the March 5th onward.

The decision to provide these exclusives is part of an effort to encourage pre-orders of titles prior to release, and the bonuses do help. The advantage of pre-order bonuses is not lost on retailers who are demanding that publishers offer special bonuses to go with the title that are exclusive to a retailer. What makes things even more interesting is that the bonuses or incentives for a particular title may not be the same or may be different, depending on which retailer you choose to purchase from. Publishers are also using the bonuses or incentives for titles to encourage retailers to order more copies of titles that might not otherwise sell well out of the gate.

Some will suggest that the decision to offer bonuses, incentives or extras to get customers to pre-order a title or to choose the special or limited edition version of a title might look like nothing more than a cash grab. The reality does seem to be that these extras are becoming more valuable in many cases, and are starting to make those that didn’t pre-order or select the special/limited edition of a title regretful that they did not choose to do so. We don’t see this trend ending anytime soon; and we expect retailers to continue to use their leverage with publishers to get them to offer better incentives to make sure that you choose to pre-order or buy from them.