Gaming giant Electronic Arts has engaged in some damage control following a leak last week, and has officially announced that an expansion pack is in development for its Battlefield 2142 game.

Northern Strike is currently in development for the PC at the EA Digital Illusions studio in Stockholm, and is slated for release in March 2007.

Expanding on the original Battlefield 2142 franchise, the Northern Strike booster pack drops gamers into a conflict for control of Earth's last scraps of inhabitable land following the onset of a cataclysmic ice age.

The booster features three new maps, including the infamous World War II battle scene at the bridge at Remagen, an Alpine Titan docking harbour in Port Bavaria and a showdown in the Liberation of Leipzig.

Northern Strike also includes new vehicles such as the heavily armed IFV Goliath and the light IFV Hachimoto.

"Our number one goal with Battlefield 2142: Northern Strike is to give fans more close-quarters combat, increased persistence and the new toys they've been asking for," said Kristoffer Bergqvist, the booster pack's producer.

"We have also added gameplay enhancements including two brand new vehicle types in an asymmetrical set-up, and we are introducing the Titan game mode into an urban setting and will debut the intensified Conquest Assault Lines game mode."