Battlefield 2042 will not feature any sort of traditional campaign mode. EA and DICE revealed their multiplayer-only shooter today, and while the explosive and destructive combat fans love looks to be back in top form, the single-player stories found in previous entries won’t be. Instead, the near-future game will focus entirely on its multiplayer offerings, with support for up to 128-player battles on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X | S and 64-player battles on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Speaking with Eurogamer, Battlefield 2042 design director Daniel Berlin explained why DICE decided to move away from a single-player story mode. While the option to compete against AI enemies will be available for players who want nothing to do with an online community, he says that leaving a campaign behind “enables us to really lean into what we are best at.”
“If you look at the DNA of the studio, what we’ve been doing for so long, we just said you know what, we’re not going to have a traditional single-player campaign this time around, but we’re going to put all that emphasis and all those resources into building depth into the multiplayer,” Berlin said. “Because that is what we do best.”
It’s not that there is no narrative dressing sprinkled in to explain what all the fighting is for though. EA provided a summary of the events that Battlefield 2042 is set around:
In Battlefield 2042, the world is on the brink. Shortages of food, energy, and clean water have led to dozens of failed nations, creating the greatest refugee crisis in human history. Among these Non-Patriated, or No-Pats, are families, farmers, engineers – and even soldiers. Amidst this crisis, the United States and Russia draw the world into an all-out war. No-Pat Specialists join both sides, not fighting for a flag, but for the future of the Non-Patriated in this new world.
Berlin added that players will get to experience Battlefield 2042’s narrative-driven world through the game’s new Specialists: “As we go through the live service, and the seasons, we’ll introduce new specialists, and you’ll see how the world evolves through the eyes of the specialists that we have.”
Battlefield 2042 launches on Oct. 22, 2021, for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X | S. Expect more details about the narrative that surrounds EA’s latest we get closer to the release date and as DICE provides updates post-launch. Meanwhile, a gameplay reveal will occur on June 13.
