Originally EA offered Battlefield 1943 as a bonus to PS3 owners who purchased Battlefield 3. EA subsequently announced they were changing this and would not be giving the game away for free.
Then came the lawsuits. EA was recently sued for what the applicant essentially argued was false advertising, taking people's money with the promise of something and then changing this promise after the fact.
It's no surprise then that now EA is going back on...going back on their word and PS3 BF3 owners will in fact be getting BF1943 for free.
Hurray for lawsuits!