Here’s everything we know about Battlefield 2042’s weapons and vehicles

Besides its maps, the most important aspects of any Battlefield game are its weapons and its vehicles, so it’s weird that those two elements are kind of the ones we know the least about. However, we do have a few details that speak to Battlefield 2042’s sandbox design.

When it comes to the weapons, we must first talk about weapon customization. The game’s setting “has allowed for the return of cutting-edge technology.” This refers both to the kinds of weapons that Battlefield 2042 will have and the ways that new features will “improve the quality of life for our players,” DICE said.

The main quality of life change comes in the form of the Plus System, which allows players to customize their weapons on the fly. According to DICE, players are able to “change out their weapon’s scope, barrel, ammo type, or under-barrel attachment for the situation you find yourself in.” From what we’ve seen, players will choose which options they’d like to take with them when spawning in and can swap between those options by bringing up a radial menu.

Another quality of life change is that Battlefield 2042‘s new character system, Specialists, won’t restrict weapons to specific classes. Any Specialist can use any weapon. This further pushes the sandbox design philosophy that has guided 2042‘s development, according to DICE.

And that’s… basically all we know about the weapons for now. It does confirm that Battlefield 4–style weapon customization is making a return to the series, but we don’t know how many weapons or what variety we can expect besides the indeterminate assault weapons, SMGs, sniper rifles, and machine guns that we see in the reveal trailer.

We also don’t know what approach DICE is taking to 2042’s gunplay—whether it will be closer to Battlefield 4, Battlefield 1, or Battlefield V, all of which have vastly different weapon mechanics. Based on what we’ve seen, we’re hoping that Battlefield 2042’s weapon customization will at least give players more agency over how their weapons feel compared to Battlefield 1’s barebones variant system and Battlefield V’s slightly less barebones but still limited specializations system.

As for the vehicles, players can expect a similar quality-of-life change to how vehicles are deployed. Though we expect that some vehicles will still spawn on the map, players can also use a call-in tablet to request certain land vehicles. These vehicles will be delivered via parachute anywhere on the map. Notably, you can’t use the tablet to call-in air vehicles like jets and helicopters, so we expect that these will have specific spawn locations.

DICE didn’t go into too many details about this call-in system in regards to what players need to do to be able to call them in. It’s possible that Battlefield V’s squad reinforcement system—in which squads earned points that they could then spend on artillery strikes or V1 rockets, for example—will make its way into Battlefield 2042, but DICE didn’t speak to that. It’s also unclear whether the vehicles that players can call in will include the massive tanks we see in the reveal trailer, or if they will be limited to transport vehicles.

As far as how the vehicles play, DICE is attempting to make them more team-oriented in Battlefield 2042. According to DICE, vehicles will “also incorporate more team collaboration, with every seat having a vital role to play in battle. From anti-air seats, to spotter seats, to gunner-type seats, the more players that occupy a vehicle, the more opportunities a squad can utilize.” All Battlefield games have included multiple seats in most vehicles, but it sounds like the non-driver seats in 2042’s vehicles will have much more utility this time around.

That’s really all we know so far about Battlefield 2042’s weapons or vehicles, though we’re sure to find out more about the specific arsenal that players will have available to them in the coming months. EA Play Live should provide more details on July 22nd.

Battlefield 2042 is set to launch on October 22nd for Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.