Battlefield 2042’s 2.2 update to add persistent servers—with a catch

DICE has released the patch notes for Battlefield 2042‘s 2.2 update, which will add a reworked map, three new vault weapons, and persistent custom servers to the game tomorrow, October 20th.

Fans of the franchise have been waiting for DICE to add persistent custom servers to the game for a long time, but they won’t work exactly as they did in previous games. For one, server owners can only host one persistent server at a time in Portal. For another, those who want to host persistent servers must have purchased the premium battle pass.

While some might balk at the idea of persistent server hosting locked behind a battle pass, it kind of makes sense. Servers aren’t free to host, so DICE needs to eat into that cost somehow. It also helps limit the amount of servers they have to keep running. Unlike normal Portal servers, which go offline as soon as the last player leaves the lobby, persistent servers will remain visible in the browser for up to a week with no one in them.

Persistent servers might be the most exciting addition to Battlefield 2042 with update 2.2, but there’s also some newish content to try out. The reworked version of Orbital shrinks the play area with a completely new capture point, and adds some nice visual detail and cover. The three vault weapons coming from Portal are also fan favorites: the ACW-R, AKS-74u, and MP412 REX.

Oh, and DICE finally fixed the underbarrel laser sights, which would detach from weapons when the player set their field of view higher. It only took a year.

You can read the full patch notes on Battlefield 2042‘s official website. The game’s available on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.