Big changes are coming to Battlefield 2042. Ahead of the launch of the game’s first season next month, DICE have revealed a range of changes coming to the game before, during and after season one kicks off.
Detailed in a new blog post, the team outlined that they’re still focusing on four key areas: maps, experiences & modes, core gameplay and new content.
Hazard Zone is the first major casualty in this shake up, with the team confirming they’re winding down future development on the mode. It’ll stay as part of the 2042 experience, however new content and experiences for it are no longer in active development. Maps released across seasons won’t support Hazard Zone, either.
Speaking of, DICE also spoke about reworking maps to ensure they flow well across all of 2042’s game modes, outlining how they’ve been listening to feedback from players and will be altering some of the game’s launch maps. Kaleidoscope, which will be reintroduced first, has had a revised play space to add more cover options and new flag positions, while terrain has been raised to give more cover and break sightlines. Similar changes will be coming to Renewal sometime in season two.
Game modes are changing a bit, too, with Breakthrough moving to 64 player matches permanently. The decrease in player count aims to give players the chance to find more tactical opportunities during a match. Rush will be joining the All-Out Warfare playlist as a 32-player mode during the game’s first season, with maps from Battlefield Portal set to join All-Out Warfare’s rotation in an effort to keep things fresh.
Specialists are being redesigned to look a bit grittier, with voice lines that break immersion set to be removed. Future cosmetic options for specialists will also be more grounded and military themed.
DICE also spoke about new third person animation modelling coming to the game at some point in the future, with the hope of giving better readability to body motion. As outlined in the blog post, this will help players react to enemy movement in a more natural way.
Interestingly, classic era weapons and gadgets will be slowly making their way to the All-Out Warfare experience. This will be a relatively gradual process as the team ensure weapon progression and balance is worked out properly prior to being available in-game. More information on this change will come sometime in the future.
The game’s first season officially kicks off next month and will bring a range of new content to the game alongside Battlefield’s first ever battle pass. It’ll also bring new UI improvements, quality of life enhancements and fixes.
With all that said, it’ll be interesting to see how this all pans out given the reception of the game and declining player counts of late. It certainly feels like a start, though. Is it too little too late? We won’t have to wait too long to find out.
