If you were looking forward to the “Big Surf Island” downloadable-content pack for Criterion Games’ Burnout Paradise, be prepared to pony up some cash. Bucking their previous strategy of providing DLC free of charge, the decision has been made to go the more conventional route and charge for the pack.

The British developer had previously announced that the island would be free content, but today reversed that decision, choosing to charge for the download instead, citing the sheer size of the content that is being offered.

“We never expected to create anything this ambitious for the island, but as it progressed we got more and more excited about what it could become. (In fact, that’s the story of all our Downloadable Content),” a company representative wrote. “Big Surf is the culmination of everything we learned creating Paradise City, and we want it to bring you a truly spectacular new experience – the highlight of a year of incredible premium content.”

Criterion has already released two free DLC packs for the game: The “Cagney” Pack and Burnout Paradise bikes. The two DLC packs added three new game modes, 70 new races in addition to extra vehicles.

The company did not release any details on how much the content would set fans back, nor did they release any time table for when the content will be available for purchase.

However, four locales were shown off via screenshots on the posting, showcasing some of the different environments, gameplay enhancements and more that will be featured in “Big Surf Island”.

For anymore concrete details, the company representative only said that a “big reveal” of the island will occur sometime in early 2009.