Battlefield 2042 is the next upcoming video game from Swedish video game developer DICE, bringing back the series' trademark combination of tactical yet casual combat, in-depth weapon customization, and over-the-top demolition. But, while it looks to be building up to be a suitably destructive entry in the Battlefield franchise, to say Battlefield 2042's poor open beta has not divided fans would be a lie, with this latest leak adding more fuel to the fire.
The bugs being encountered by Battlefield 2042 gamers extend beyond the PS4 and Xbox One, as even players on the most modern next-generation consoles are having problems with the open beta. Not only that, but PC players seem to have the worst experience out of the lot, as viral footage from Battlefield 2042's open beta shows hackers destroying the multiplayer. These clips have been widely shared within the Battlefield community on sites such as Twitter and Reddit.
After all of this, one might be wondering what DICE is doing to combat Battlefield 2042's game-breaking bugs and experience-ruining hacks. However, before an official reveal of such could be made, the latest leak from the Battlefield 2042 beta client already details descriptions for future "Harassment" scenarios. Discovered by Twitter user Temporyal, this system is set to be the new in-game reporting tool.
Many players would agree that well-needed options like reporting hate speech, aimbots, and wallhacks are changes that will better the overall Battlefield 2042 experience. It will be interesting to see how the developers handle the more dubious options in the reporting tool, such as the strange and vague "gameplay sabotage" claim. For the uninitiated, this option states that players who go "against the spirit of Battlefield but isn't technically cheating" could be banned.
In short, although outlawing "spawn-camping" and additional nebulous tactics sounds beneficial on paper, the ambiguity in the phrasing means that the potential for malicious misuse of this option is almost unimaginable. For example, most of the outrage from gamers is directed at the fact that proficient snipers who defend an objective phenomenally by camping could be reported for doing so.
Nevertheless, while Battlefield 2042 does already have basic anti-cheat technology implemented for its open beta, it's clear DICE has a few more cards hidden up its sleeve to combat the rampant hackers. At the same time, it should be noted that, as this is a preview of unreleased content found through data mining, there is no guarantee that all the listed features will make it into the eventual release.
Battlefield 2042 releases on November 19 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.