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"Adapt and overcome in a near-future world transformed by disorder."

— Tagline

Battlefield 2042, also known as BF2042 (development code-name 'Kingston') is the seventeenth installment in the Battlefield series developed by DICE and published by EA, set after the continuation events of Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4. The game was revealed on June 9th, 2021. The game released on November 12th, 2021 for EA Play members and those who purchased the Gold and Ultimate Edition. It was released worldwide on November 19th, 2021. The game was made available on EA Play subscription service on November 22nd, 2022.[3]

Battlefield 2042: Elite Edition was announced and released on May 26th, 2023.

Overview

Battlefield 2042 is multiplayer focused and has no singleplayer campaign, the first main series entry to not include one since Battlefield 2142. However, similar to older entries in the series like Battlefield 2, players will have the option of playing against AI bots in either solo or co-op modes (alongside Portal)[4], although the game is always online and cannot be played offline.[5]

Certain multiplayer modes like Conquest and Breakthrough will support up to 128 players per server on ninth generation consoles and PC, the first Battlefield game to officially support over 100 players in a single match since the Korean exclusive Battlefield Online. The Playstation 4 and Xbox One versions of 2042 will only support up to 64 players with smaller scale maps.[6]

Setting

Main article: War of 2042
"As the world stands on the brink of war, a new kind of stateless soldier emerges from the greatest crisis in human history. How did we get here?"

— Battlefield 2042 Website[7]

Similar to Battlefield 2142, Battlefield 2042 has a background narrative despite having no single-player campaign. It is set in the same continuity as Battlefield 3 and 4.[8]

2042 takes place two decades after the events of the War of 2020. Extreme climate change events take place during the 2030s, causing massive global upheaval. The collapse of many government powers and the shuttering of borders has resulted in over 1.2 billion[7] people becoming displaced. Many of these outcasts band together for mutual survival, becoming known as the Non-Patriated or "No-Pats" for short.

By 2037, advances in technology have allowed humanity to begin rebuilding a global society, and some of the remaining countries begin to open their borders once again. However, distrustful of the governments of the "Old World" that abandoned them, many No-Pats refuse to rejoin their former nations and create their own identity, unbound by loyalty to any country. The No-Pats create Task Forces of military Specialists to defend themselves.

In 2040, a space debris storm causes a Kessler Effect to occur, where most of the satellites orbiting the Earth cease to function and crash into the planet. A global blackout takes place, plunging the world into chaos as communication grids are destroyed and supply lines halt. The United States of America and the Russian Federation, the only two remaining superpower states, blame each other for the catastrophe. The two nations begin a proxy war to secure remaining food and fuel supplies, hiring the No-Pat Task Forces to maintain plausible deniability. By 2042, a massive open war is all but certain, and the No-Pats must choose sides in order to survive.[7]

Classes

Battlefield 2042 introduces the Specialist system.

Specialists have one unique Specialty gadget, such as Maria's Syrette Pistol and Boris' SG-36 Sentry System, and a unique passive Trait, such as Casper's passive Movement Sensor. The rest of each Specialist's kit is fully customizable.[9]


Maps


Weapons


Gadgets


Vehicles


Soundtrack

Main article: Battlefield 2042: Original Soundtrack


Development

A new, untitled Battlefield game was confirmed by EA CEO Andrew Wilson in an investor call on October 29, 2019. The game was said to take full advantage of next-generation consoles and be driven by live service offerings, seeing major innovations in multiplayer, social, and competition aspects that are new to the franchise.[10] The game's title was publicly revealed alongside its first trailer on June 9th, 2021.

DICE chose to exclude a traditional single-player campaign from 2042, believing the studio did multiplayer focused games better and desired to put all resources toward creating depth in the game's multiplayer. No Battle Royale mode is currently planned for the game.[4]

Battlefield 2042 is intended to be a "live service" game in a similar fashion to Battlefield V, and will introduce new content through update "Seasons" that will include free as well as paid-for Battle Passes.[6] Regarding the potential for the game to eventually become free-to-play, design director Daniel Berlin said that DICE had "done this in the past, we've got Battlefield Heroes, we had Battlefield Play for Free as well - so we've dipped our toe into this space. And it's exciting for us to see what the future holds here. But we don't have anything particularly to announce."[4]

Cross-play and cross-progression is available in 2042, allowing players from different platforms to play together, a first for the series. Cross-play is restricted to console generations, meaning Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 users can play together but cannot play with Xbox One and Playstation 4 players, and vice versa. PC players can cross-play with Xbox Series X|S and Playstation 5, but PC and Console players have the option of opting out of playing together. Cross-progression and cross-commerce is shared over to all platforms.[5]

The game had a closed technical playtest in early July from a group of veteran players with the map Orbital on Conquest in grey box environment.[11] The test was pushed to late summer due to the implementation of cross-platform play.[5]

On June 30th, 2021, Nvidia announced the game will supporting their DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) and Reflex technology. The first help player getting better performance without sacrificing image quality and latter to reduce latency.[12] On November 1st, 2021, Nvidia announced the game will also featured Ray-Traced Ambient Occlusion which help the game to display shadows more accurately.[13]

On September 15th, 2021, DICE announced that the games original release date of October 15th, 2021 for EA Play members, Gold and the Ultimate Edition, and October 22nd, 2021 for worldwide release would be delayed to November 12th, 2021 and November 19th, 2021 respectively. This was cited to to a result of the challenges of development during the COVID-19 pandemic.[14]

The game's Open Beta was announced on September 28, 2021, and scheduled to take place from October 6th to October 10th, 2021. Users who pre-order the game or are EA Play subscribers will have early access to the beta starting October 6th, with access for all other players beginning on October 8th. The beta can be pre-loaded on October 5th. Like the closed technical tests, the Beta will feature the map Orbital on Conquest.[15]

Marketing

Battlefield 2021 Incoming Transmission
Original image
Battlefield 2021 Incoming Transmission Complete
Full message

On June 1st, 2021, the Official Battlefield Twitter account posted a teaser for the reveal of the game scheduled for June 9th.[16] On June 4th, the Official Battlefield Twitter account sent messages to several gaming content creators. Included were images of a distorted message, with different individuals receiving different potions of the image. The full image was quickly assembled by the community.[17] On June 5th, several players in the community received distorted videos titled "Emergency Broadcast".[18] On June 7th, Battlefield 4, 1, and V were updated to display a similar distorted clip as the game launched.[19] The Battlefield Twitter account posted the same clip along with a link to scheduled a premiere livestream on the Battlefield Youtube Channel. [20]

Battlefield 2042's official reveal was on June 9th, 2021 at 7AM PDT with the release of the reveal trailer.[21] Gameplay was first shown during the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase on June 13.[22] Battlefield Portal was announced during EA PLAY Live 2021 on July 22nd.[23] Gameplay of the game's Specialists was revealed on September 3rd.[24]

The World of 2042 campaign revealed and promoted the narrative behind the game, using the hashtag #WeAreNoPats. The Exodus Short Film was first announced on August 2nd, and the Journey of the No-Pats story blog was launched the next day on August 3rd. [25] A new chapter was released for the blog each day until the release of the Exodus Short Film on August 12th. [26] Hildur Gudnadóttir and Sam Slater were revealed as the composers of the game's score on August 18. [27]

Standard Edition

Pre-Order Edition

Battlefield 2042 Cover Art
  • Battlefield 2042
  • Early Access to Open Beta
  • Baku ACB-90 Epic Melee Takedown Knife
  • "Mr. Chompy" Epic Weapon Charm
  • "Landfall" Player Card Background and "Old Guard" Tag
  • Irish Battle Hardened Legendary skin

Gold Edition

Battlefield 2042 Gold Edition Cover
  • Battlefield 2042
  • Early Access to Open Beta
  • Seven days early access on November 12th, 2021
  • Baku ACB-90 Epic Melee Takedown Knife
  • "Mr. Chompy" Epic Weapon Charm
  • "Landfall" Player Card Background and "Old Guard" Tag
  • Irish Battle Hardened Legendary skin
  • Year 1 Pass: 4 New Specialists, 4 Battle Passes, 3 Epic Skin Bundles

Both Gold and Ultimate Editions have been discontinued with the release of Elite Edition.

Ultimate Edition

Battlefield 2042 Ultimate Edition Cover
  • Battlefield 2042
  • Early Access to Open Beta
  • Seven days early access on November 12th, 2021
  • Baku ACB-90 Epic Melee Takedown Knife
  • "Mr. Chompy" Epic Weapon Charm
  • "Landfall" Player Card Background and "Old Guard" Tag
  • Irish Battle Hardened Legendary skin
  • Year 1 Pass: 4 New Specialists, 4 Battle Passes, 3 Epic Skin Bundles
  • Midnight Ultimate Bundle
  • Official Digital Artbook
  • Exclusive Digital Soundtrack

Both Gold and Ultimate Editions have been discontinued with the release of Elite Edition.

Elite Edition

Battlefield 2042 Elite Edition Cover
  • Battlefield 2042
  • Season 1-4 Specialists
  • Season 1-4 Weapons and Vehicles
  • "Lost World" Epic Cosmetic Bundle
    • Epic “Forsaken” Rao Specialist Set
    • Epic “Starved Vulture” Vehicle Skin
    • Epic “Banisher” Weapon Skin


Achievements and Trophies

Main article: Battlefield 2042 Achievements and Trophies


Trivia

  • A collection of stickers were released in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive to celebrate the release of Battlefield 2042.[28]
  • Since the release of Battlefield 2042: Elite Edition on May 26th 2023, both the Gold Edition and Ultimate Edition of the game are no longer available for sale, similar to how Battlefield V's Deluxe Edition and Year 2 Edition were discontinued with the release of the Definitive Edition.

Gallery

Battlefield Portal

Hazard Zone

Concept Art

Videos


References

  1. A Bold Move For Battlefield
  2. The Battlefield is Expanding
  3. @Battlefield - Twitter
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Battlefield 2042 has no campaign and no battle royale mode - Eurogamer Retrieved June 9, 2021
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Battlefield Briefing - Answering Your Reveal Questions
  6. 6.0 6.1 Battlefield 2042 Game Overview - Electronic Arts Official Battlefield 2042 Website, retrieved June 9, 2021
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 How We Got Here Official Battlefield 2042 Website, retrieved June 13, 2021
  8. Battlefield 2042 - Exodus Short Film
  9. Battlefield 2042 Specialists - Electronic Arts Official Battlefield 2042 Website, retrieved June 9, 2021
  10. Next Battlefield game coming by 2022, Apex Legends will be EA’s ‘annual shooter’ for 2020
  11. Battlefield 2042 Technical Playtest - Electronic Arts
  12. Battlefield 2042: Accelerated with NVIDIA DLSS and Reflex
  13. Ray Tracing Coming Soon To Battlefield 2042 With NVIDIA DLSS and Reflex - Check Out The New PC Trailer
  14. @Battlefield - Twitter
  15. Open Beta Announcement - Official Battlefield 2042 Website - Retrieved September 28, 2021
  16. @Battlefield - Twitter
  17. @BFEEcommunity - Twitter
  18. @BFEEcommunity - Twitter
  19. @BFEEcommunity - Twitter
  20. @Battlefield - Twitter
  21. @Battlefield - Twitter
  22. @Battlefield - Twitter
  23. EA PLAY Live 2021 - Electronic Arts on Youtube
  24. @Battlefield - Twitter
  25. @Battlefield - Twitter
  26. @Battlefield - Twitter
  27. Here's Oscar-Winning 'Joker' Composer Hildur Gudnadóttir's Surprising New Project: Exclusive - Billboard
  28. On the Battlefield
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