On July 14th, 2021, game developers at Electronic Arts released brand-new announcement about their upcoming Battlefield 2042. An earlier announcement in June already left a lot for fans of the combat-based game to get excited about, and now, EA has disclosed even more news about Battlefield 2042 for fans to unpack.
One of the largest sections of EA’s new announcement was dedicated to more information on Specialists, a new type of playable soldier coming to Battlefield 2042. As EA describes, each new Specialist, of which there will be ten, will have a unique set of Specialities and Traits that have different in-game functions. Some of the Specialists which have been revealed so far, for example, will have better healing capabilities or increased flight mobility. Alongside these new Specialists, EA has also confirmed that player loadout will no longer be class-specific, meaning players will have more customization options in-game for whichever character they chose to take on.
Other new features discussed within EA’s announcement are vehicle updates coming to Battlefield 2042, which reveals that vehicles will be easier to access and allow for more focus on squads than in previous versions of the game. Battlefield 2042 will also include a new AI Soldiers feature, allowing for a more realistic solo play mode and for easier lobbying when trying to get into larger games.
Another major section of the announcement talked about the new maps coming to Battlefield 2042. EA has confirmed that seven new maps will be coming to the game, saying that the upcoming maps will be the most impressive in the franchise yet.
“In terms of gameplay opportunities and land mass, this is the biggest and boldest Battlefield we have ever built.”
However, there are some downsides to epic game maps, such as the ones Battlefield 2042 plans to bring to the table. EA has already mentioned some differences between the last-gen and next-gen consoles on which Battlefield 2042 will be released, and battle maps are one of these differences. As EA has explained, the last-gen consoles, including the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, will have a smaller player lobby, capping at 64 players, and have smaller maps in order to optimize gameplay. Next-gen consoles and PC, on the other hand, will cap at a 128-player lobby and be able to run maps at their full capacities.
Other than these changes, however, EA has assured that the game will run the same on either generation, with Vehicles, Dynamic Weather, Specialists, and other features being available on both console generations.
Another notable difference between the two console generations is the cross-play capabilities. As of now, EA has stated that cross-play will be exclusive to either console generation, meaning that cross-play will not be available between console generations. While this may come as a disappointment to some, EA will be beta-testing their cross-play capabilities later this summer, so news about cross-play may change soon.
And speaking of beta-testing, the Technical Playtest for Battlefield 2042 will begin later this summer! Unfortunately, however, it is not an event players can sign up for. EA has confirmed that the Technical Playtest will be a small, exclusive group of individuals selected by the game developers personally. If you want a chance to be selected, make sure to update your EA Playtesting profile!
As is slowly being revealed, Battlefield 2042 will bring many new and exciting changes to the popular franchise. So get your squad together and get ready to charge into battle! Battlefield 2042 will be released on October 22nd, 2021. It will be available for purchase or download on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. And be sure to tune in to EA Play Live on July 22nd for more updates on Battlefield 2042!