Battlefield 2042 Revealed With Launch Platform And Release Date Details
As promised, today DICE and EA announced the next Battlefield game. While the game has been informally known as Battlefield 6 up until this point, today its actual title was confirmed: Battlefield 2042. As the title suggests, we're going into the future with this game and, as the leaks this morning revealed, it sounds like the game will focus on conflict between the US and Russia.
While the five minute reveal trailer certainly features a lot of action in locations around the world, it's on the Battlefield website where we find most of the details about the game. Battlefield 2042 is apparently set in a near-future where climate change, fuel shortages, and food shortages have created collapsing economies and displaced more than a billion people who are known as the Non-Patriated or No-Pats.
Even though humanity is able to adapt and rebuild, tensions rise between the US and Russia and culminate with a global blackout caused by a "sudden space debris storm." Tensions between the US and Russia continue to rise to the point where the two countries "field No-Pat Task Forces as proxies," in open war.
It sounds like a rather intense near-future setting that may not be entirely far-fetched, but a synopsis of the story so far wasn't the only thing that DICE and EA revealed today. The companies also confirmed the platforms Battlefield 2042 will be available on, announcing that not only will we get the game on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC, but also that it's coming to Xbox One and PS4 as well. On Xbox One and PS4, Battlefield 2042 will support up to 64-player multiplayer matches, while on Xbox Series X, PS5, and PC, the number of supported players goes up to an impressive 128.
The maps these large-scale battles will play out on sound pretty impressive as well, and the Battlefield website seems to suggest they'll be larger on current-gen platforms and PC. DICE and EA revealed seven maps for Battlefield 2042 today: Orbital, Hourglass, Kaleidoscope, Manifest, Discarded, Breakaway, and Renewal, some of which can be spotted in the trailer. Maps are dynamic and can host extreme weather events during matches as well.
In addition to bringing us up to speed on the world and the maps contained in Battlefield 2042, a dedicated FAQ gives us a lot of extra details on the game. There, we learn that Battlefield 2042 is launching on October 22nd, 2021, though there will be open betas and technical playtests in the lead up to release.
The FAQ also details Battlefield 2042's Specialists, which are apparently replacing classes in this game. Specialists each have one unique specialty and trait, but aside from those, they can be outfitted however players see fit. There will be 10 Specialists in the game when it launches, with four of them revealed today on the Battlefield website.
We also learned some details about post-launch monetization today. Electronic Arts and DICE obviously consider Battlefield 2042 to be a live service game, and because of that, we'll see each year split into four three-month long seasons, each with their own free and paid Battle Passes. In Battlefield 2042's first year of availability, DICE says that it will "deliver four Seasons, with four Battle Passes, four new Specialists, along with more fresh content."
There was a surprising amount of information about Battlefield 2042 revealed today – more than we were expecting, that's for sure. One thing we didn't get a look at is gameplay, but as it turns out, that's right around the corner too. DICE and EA ended today's reveal trailer by saying that a gameplay reveal for Battlefield 2042 is coming on June 13th, and we're promised more information at EA Play Live on July 22nd as well. We'll let you know when DICE and EA share more about Battlefield 2042, so stay tuned for that.