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Battlefield 2042 disappointed some fans of the series with the announcement that it would not include a singleplayer campaign mode. Instead, the developers said that the teams working on the game had devoted all resources to ensuring that the game's core multiplayer experience was as refined, big, and fun as it could possibly be. The team also announced Battlefield 2042's brand new Portal mode, which will give players the ability to create custom game modes with assets from Battlefield 2042 and a select number of previous Battlefield titles and host them for their friends and other players to try out.
It was also confirmed that Battlefield 2042 will be a live service game featuring a seasonal update structure complete with a battle pass. Obviously, this monetization structure has been made quite popular in recent years with some of the biggest AAA games available adopting it to fund development and help keep player bases engaged with games for many years. While some have raised concerns about the games industry trying to support too many live service titles, and some fans of the series are concerned about Battlefield 2042 going that route, it could actually end up being a very good thing for the game and the franchise as a whole.
Battlefield 2042 Will Be Able to Grow How Players Want It To
Being a live service title means that players can expect Battlefield 2042 to grow and evolve over time. While the game's developers undoubtedly already have some plans as to what will be added to the game later on in its life, being a live service game gives developers the abiity to adapt seasons to include what players most want to see in the game. If many players don't end up using Battlefield 2042's new Portal mode after the first couple of weeks post-release, the developers can deliver more multiplayer content or a new mode entirely. On the other hand, if players end up engaging with Portal more than the developers expected, they can add more old Battlefield titles to it for players to acces.
The seasonal structure should also give the developers the time necessary to make sure that anything added to the game will be well balanced and fully fleshed out prior to releasing. It could be better for Battlefield 2042 to skip things like a ranked mode at launch, so that the developers can take their time on it so that it is the best it can be when players eventually get to play it. This is especially true in the case of the game's massive new maps that feature weather disasters and enough room to accomodate the game's large new player count.
Battlefield 2042 Will Be Able To Keep Things Fresh For Players
One of the biggest benefits of a live service model for video games is the ability to keep players coming back to see what new content has been added. Seasonal updates allows a game to not only add new maps and cosmetics, but new weapons as tools for players to use, as well. This could be huge for Battlefield 2042, as adding new equipment could drastically change the options that players have when approaching matches. This is especially true for Battlefield 2042's new gadgets. With the base game launching with gadgets like wing suits and grappling hooks, one can only imagine what new features players will get access to over the months after the game's release.
New seasons will also likely include new maps for Battlefield 2042 players to jump into and explore. This will be great to keep the game filled with players and new maps will very likely lead to players wanting to see what sort of experiences the new maps have to offer, especially with the game's new weather disasters.
This system will also work better than the series' previous approach of paid map packs, because it will not divide the game's playerbase between those with purchased maps and those without. This will help players get into matches more quickly while also ensuring that new players get access to everything the game has to offer without additional purchases. With these benefits in mind, it makes sense that EA is looking to make Battlefield 2042 a live service.
What Battlefield 2042's Seasons Could Include
With how many seasons and battle passes the games industry has seen now across the various live service games available, it seems easy enough to assume some of what will be included with Battlefield 2042's seasons after the game releases. They will undoubtedly contain numerous cosmetics for players to unlock, including weapon camos, operators, skins, and maybe even more franchise specific options such as vehicle skins and rarer dog tags for players to collect. With the various weapon attachments the game has also showed off, its battle passes could also include cosmetic variations to some of those attachments such as red dot sights with different reticles.
Each season Battlefield 2042 will most likely also get some new gameplay content to help keep players around. There are a lot possibilities for what this all could include, but one of the safest bets is that seasons will introduce new maps to Battlefield 2042 as well as new guns frequently. This is the core content of the game, and adding new maps for players to fight across and new weapons to do it with will keep players coming back to experiment again and again.
It is also possible that seasons will bring new game modes and maybe even new vehicles to the game that could spawn on older maps to change them up for players familiar with them. Some seasons will also likely include new content for the game's Portal mode, which could bring cosmetics and features from older games into Battlefield 2042's mutliplayer as well. All in all, it will be very intersting to see what the future holds for Battlefield 2042 and the many fans of the series.
Battlefield 2042 releases on October 22 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.