Battlefield 2042 0.4.1 patch notes reveal release window for Season 1

Patch notes for Battlefield 2042‘s next update revealed a more specific release window for when its first season will finally launch.

The May update, called Update #4.1 or 0.4.1, makes a bunch of small but significant changes to the game ahead of Season 1’s long-awaited launch, which might be sooner than we expected. According to a message at the beginning of the patch notes, Season 1 is “currently set for release in early June.”

Previously, the only release window we had for Season 1 was “early summer.” That means that Update #4.1 will be the last update Battlefield 2042 receives until Season 1 launches, bringing new content for the first time since the game released in November 2021. In the meantime, Battlefield’s new leadership team has apparently been “rethinking the development process” for both 2042 and the series as a whole.

As for the current patch, the biggest change Update #4.1 will make when it launches on May 19th is removing 128-player Breakthrough from the game entirely. Instead, Breakthrough will only host 64 players on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC and will remain unchanged on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. This is somewhat surprising, given that Battlefield 2042 was sold on its 128-player modes, though Conquest will still offer a 128-player variation. However, it’s much less surprising given the overall player reaction to having 128 players all fight over one or two objectives.

Two Specialists will also receive significant nerfs. Angel will no longer provide an Armor Plate when handing out his supply bag, and Boris’ SG-36 Sentry Gun has seen a significant debuff. The damage, range, rate of fire, and health of the SG-36 will all receive major nerfs and will no longer highlight enemies through walls. However, the SG-36 will now spot enemies for all teammates, giving it a slight buff to its recon utility.

The other major change is that DICE is lowering the “base weapon recoil” for all weapons while also reducing the “impact of recoil affecting attachments.” The game’s last patch, Update 0.4.0, also “introduced an unintended change to the behavior of some weapons via incorrect values on their damage tables,” so this update is reverting that change. Update #4.1 also supposed fixes some lingering issues with aim assist on controller, specifically “while aiming at moving targets,” so console players might have an easier time against PC players, who themselves are still experiencing input lag with their mice.

Finally, the M5C Bolte is being moved to the armored vehicle category, while the MAV is moving over to the transport vehicle category. This change was promised prior to the last patch, and it’s finally making its way to the game.

You can read the full patch notes on the game’s official website.