DICE has announced the much-anticipated Battlefield 2042 — a near-future FPS set amid a worldwide ecological disaster. As revealed in a stream today, the game will be featuring 128-player multiplayer matches on PC and new-gen consoles and simulates environmental disasters into its matches, entailing sandstorms, tornadoes, and more.
Aside from the new weapons, vehicles, and equipment, the game also introduces specialists, named characters based on the traditional Battlefield classes but with added abilities. As many as ten characters will be coming at the launch.
In Battlefield 2042, the world is on the brink. Shortages of food, energy, and clean water have led to dozens of failed nations, creating the greatest refugee crisis in human history. Among these Non-Patriated, or No-Pats, are families, farmers, engineers – and even soldiers. Amidst this crisis, the United States and Russia draw the world into an all-out war. No-Pat Specialists join both sides, not fighting for a flag, but for the future of the Non-Patriated in this new world.
“Battlefield 2042 is an evolution of the franchise and embraces what our players want – the ultimate Battlefield multiplayer sandbox with intense combat and a ton of incredible, unexpected events. All of us across DICE in Stockholm, DICE LA, Criterion, and EA Gothenburg have had so much fun developing this game and now it’s time to let players jump in. What they’ll find is that we’ve built three distinct, absolutely epic experiences that we think they’ll love,” said DICE general manager Oskar Gabrielson.
The game will also feature Battlefield’s traditional Conquest and breakthrough modes, and will add Hazard Zone – a squad-based mode that DICE claims is way different from the existing modes. Moreover another unannounced new mode, described as a “love letter to Battlefield fans” is on the way which will be shown at EA Play Live in July.
Being a modern AAA shooter, EA is building live service elements into the game, with seasons that advance the narrative of the game. They will also include Battle Passes with free and premium tiers. The first year of the game will comprise four seasons, four Battle Passes, and four new Specialists aside from other additions.
Battlefield 2042 houses a massive team – the biggest in series history according to EA – and includes developers from DICE Stockholm, DICE LA, EA Gothenburg, and Criterion. EA also has a standalone Battlefield mobile game which is in development. In addition to that, the recently appointed ex-Call of Duty GM Byron Beede intends to grow the franchise even further outside of the games.
Previously, the game saw a flurry of leaks before release, including an internal video and a set of images. The first direct gameplay will be shown on 13 June, presumably as part of E3 2021. It is set to arrive for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4 and Xbox One on 22 October 2021.