It’s been a good week for Battlefield fans. To start, the head honcho of Battlefield, Vince Zempella, that Battlefield would return to 64-player matches, the classic four-class system, and a more “back to basics approach.” Battlefield General Manager Bryon Beede also revealed that the game will have “large-scale community-driven testing” early next year, in addition to stating that the game has had nearly daily internal testing for over a year.
Zempella also confirmed a “new experience” from Ripple Effect, which Insider Gaming has reported will be Battlefield’s take on a new free-to-play Battle Royale to tie in with the game’s premium release, akin to how Call of Duty found success with Call of Duty: Warzone.
So what’s new? Following our original report and the recent confirmation of those details, we wanted to dive into some of the nitty-gritty details that players might want to hear. To start, let’s focus on the core of the game. Insider Gaming understands that the game will take place somewhere between 2027 and 2030, with the campaign focused on a massive private military going up against NATO. The game will be set in various locations worldwide, including Gibraltar (as seen in the game’s first released concept art) and the USA, which is also believed to be the setting for the Battle Royale experience (tropical location).
But let’s cut to the chase and talk multiplayer. The aim is currently for 45 different weapons on launch, double that of what Battlefield 2042’s core multiplayer experience launched with. In addition, the goal is for around 10 multiplayer maps, putting it in line with the likes of Battlefield 1, 3, and 4.
The game will also see a significant overhaul to its destruction and while I couldn’t verify if this means the return of levolution, over half a dozen sources mentioned that the game would have caliber-based destruction, akin to Rainbow 6 Siege, with different calibers causing different amounts of destruction. It’s also understood that the game will see some changes to movement, with one example given by multiple sources the ability to pick up and move downed players. While this has almost certainly been incorporated for the Battle Royale experience, it’s been implied that this is all of the changes and is a part of the team’s “Battlefield moments” initiative to bring back the moments that made Battlefield… well… Battlefield.
I’ve also been told that the team is currently weighing up the name of the game. Over the past year or so, the team has been carrying out mass surveys (some of the biggest I’ve heard about), with participants voting on which game name they prefer: Battlefield or Battlefield 6. So, fingers crossed, we might not have to wait long until that is officially announced.
Finally, regarding “large-scale community-driven testing,” I am very much inclined to believe that this is more than just an open or closed beta but rather the return of the Battlefield CTE, which really helped the development of Battlefield 1 and 4.
Are you excited for Battlefield?