Bethesda Developing a Free to Play Online Combat Game

Transitioning from battlefields to battle cries, another surprise game announcement has surfaced this morning. BATTLECRY is being developed by the newly formed (and appropriately named) BattleCry Studios- but don't let the free to play model or name fool you, there seems to be some talent behind this. Besides having the art director of Dishonored, much of the staff comes from studios like Bioware, Valve, 343 Studios, and Treyarch.
 
The premise of BATTLECRY is two warring factions in an alternate timeline where gunpowder has been banned. You take either the side of the Royal Marines or the Cossacks in large 32 player matches. While the trailer doesn't show any gameplay, judging from the screenshots the game uses a third person perspective. There's also mention of a melee combo system and the ability to upgrade your weapons to have elemental effects or be armor piercing. 
 

 
On second thought... really the screenshots could just be from a spectator mode and the game could very well be from a first person perspective. This has already been proven to work very well in the highly underrated Chivalry: Medieval Warfare, which I really suggest picking up on Steam if you've never played it.  
 
You can sign up for the beta on their site now, but you'll have to wait quite a bit since they won't be holding it until next year. This is also the second free to play arena combat game from a large publisher to be announced within a month's time. Namco announced their own Rise of Incarnates back in April, and will be holding the alpha test for the game this weekend. I will be participating in the alpha, so be on the lookout for videos and impressions next week. 
 
Given the runaway success of free to play MOBAs like League of Legends, and approaching things with a much simpler and more accessible gameplay style... this genre could be flourishing very soon.