Battlefield 2042’s live service will include a premium battle pass

DICE has big plans for Battlefield 2042’s post-launch live service, and yes, that includes a premium battle pass.

While DICE didn’t go into too much detail about 2042’s live service during a recent virtual pre-reveal event, it did reveal certain key points about what players can expect in the months following the game’s release.

First off, Battlefield 2042 will have a Battle Pass for each season of content that will come in both a free and a premium variety. Our guess is that the battle pass would work pretty much like how you’d expect—earn XP and complete challenges to level up the battle pass and unlock new cosmetic items. DICE did state that new content like maps would not be locked behind a paywall, but they did not say whether the game’s Specialists and weapons would also be available to players just grinding the free battle pass.

DICE said that the first year of 2042’s live service will include four seasons, four battle passes, and four new Specialists, assumedly one per season. The game will also get “new locations, along with more fresh new content,” though DICE didn’t specify how many new maps, weapons, and game modes players can expect. Hopefully we’ll get a roadmap before the game launches, though given DICE’s recent track record on Battlefield V, we would advise caution before taking any roadmap too seriously. DICE still needs to prove itself in that regard.

Premium battle passes might be standard fare for current online games, but it’s really the first time that the Battlefield franchise is taking this approach to supporting its live service. Battlefields 3 through 1 all used a traditional Premium release model for the DLC weapons and maps where large chunks of content would come out every few months for those who bought in. Battlefield V tried to mix it up by adding all new weapons and maps for free but charging for individual cosmetics like uniforms and weapon skins. With Battlefield 2042, DICE seems to be finally catching up to current post-launch money-making trends.

Battlefield 2042 launches on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Playstation 4, and PC on October 22nd.