[Update 8/16] A Shacknews reader (thanks Bonzai) tells us that EA Support claims this promotion ran through August 7, and current orders won't be honored with the free game offer. Shacknews regrets the error.

[Original Story] Battlefield 3 has been paired with the term "Origin" a lot lately, as EA's push to promote its new games portal has led to its share of controversies. But the company isn't above a little light bribery, and is offering a free game for pre-ordering Battlefield 3 through the Origin service. You can actually choose from one of three downloadable PC titles, and the selection isn't half-bad.

Ars Technica reports that through the month of August, pre-orders can get Dead Space 2, Mass Effect 2, or Medal of Honor for free. Buyers will be e-mailed a coupon code to reduce the price to zero dollars.

EA has offered similar promotions before, as BioWare gave away Mass Effect 2 with orders of Dragon Age 2. This deal isn't mentioned on the Battlefield 3 Origin page, so Shacknews has contacted EA to clarify.

The game received a lot of attention last week, with the revelation that it is not coming to Steam due to "restrictive terms" on DLC and patches. It was later confirmed that even if you buy the game through a retail provider, you'll have to use Origin to run the game anyway. So since you basically have no choice, you might as well get a free game out of it, right?