Battlefield 2042’s first season won’t start until early next year
In a new blog post summarizing everything players can expect from Battlefield 2042, EA and DICE have confirmed that the game’s first season of post-launch content won’t begin until 2022.
Instead, the game will launch with a “preseason,” offering “Weekly Missions and Rewards, Limited Time Modes, featured Creator Spotlights and experiences in Battlefield Portal, and more.” DICE plans to reveal its planned live-service elements—which will add in maps, battle passes, playable specialists, and other content—early next year.
For now, all DICE is saying is that the game’s first year will include four seasons, bringing four new specialists, four new battle passes, and an unspecified number of “new locations,” in addition to updates to the series-spanning Battlefield Portal.
It’s an interesting approach, given that Battlefield 2042 is a multiplayer-only experience that plans to tell its story, such as it is, through ongoing updates rather than any narrative-driven campaign. EA is clearly banking on the idea that players will enjoy the launch content enough to go at least two months without the standard features multiplayer shooters use to keep engagement high. (You know, like games used to do before battle passes took over everything.)
Battlefield 2042 arrives November 19th on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows PC. Those who pre-order the Gold or Ultimate editions or have an active EA Play Pro membership can start playing a week earlier, on November 12th. That same day, Xbox Game Pass and standard EA Play subscribers will have access to a 10-hour trial.
