After weeks of teases, Battlefield 2042 was officially unveiled today. We now have a slight understanding of what the game will be. And we have a Battlefield 2042 release date, too! The game — which will hit PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC — is set to drop on Oct. 22, 2021.
Judging by the name and what we saw in the trailer (embedded below), Battlefield 2042 will take us into the not-so-distant future and offer us a look at war might be like a mere two decades from now. Not much is different: there are still guns, planes, tanks, and the like. What we could see a lot more of — or what developer DICE thinks we’ll see more of, at least — are robotic war machines, sort of like the insanely creepy dog thing that Boston Dynamics has demoed. At one point, as well, a tornado appears as well, though it’s not entirely clear whether this is man-made (could we make that happen?), or a guess at what the climate crisis might look like in 20-ish years.
EA later dropped a press release that filled us in a bit more on the context the game is taking place in. Here’s an excerpt:
“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.”
According to that press release, Battlefield 2042 will add “an all-new type of playable soldier” called a Specialist. Specialists will get “their own unique Specialist Trait and Specialty, and will have fully customizable loadouts.” Perhaps the most wild inclusion in 2042 will be game modes with up to 128 players fighting at once.
What I’m not seeing any indication of, however, is a single-player campaign. Battlefield 2042, according to EA, will supposedly ship with “three distinct, absolutely epic experiences.” There’s “All-Out Warfare,” which is multiplayer. There is “Hazard Zone,” which is a squad-based game. And then there is a TBA mode — described as “another exciting new game-type” — currently in the works over at DICE LA. None of that sounds like a campaign to me, which could disappoint some Battlefield fans who enjoy playing through those, and could make this title — which will be a full $59.99 — a harder sell.
Perhaps the gameplay reveal scheduled for June 13 will do more to convince fans they need to buy it.
The once-proud Battlefield franchise has felt as though it’s fallen off in the past few years. Call of Duty managed to get a leg up on it by, quite honestly, always being around. Activision’s first-person shooter series has made it a point to stick to its annual release schedule, hell or high water, even if that’s called for completely replacing a developer on a project. Battlefield, meanwhile, was on an alternating schedule with the Star Wars: Battlefront series for several years, and then flat-out disappeared after the release of Battlefield 5 in 2018.
Hopefully today’s reveal and Battlefield 2042 release date announcement is a sign the franchise is back. We’ll find out for sure when the game arrives later this year.
