The Battlefield 2042 devs at DICE have offered a broad rundown of what to expect from the game as Season 1 is set to kick off, as part of a "mission of restoring trust" after the game's largely maligned launch.
"Next month with the release of Season 1 we’ll see a big update that will not only bring this new content to the game," the devs say in a new blog post, "but also deliver new Qquality [sic] of Life enhancements, fixes, and improvements that demonstrate our continued commitment to Battlefield 2042 and our mission of restoring the trust that many of you feel was hurt when we launched back in November of last year."
As part of that new focus, the devs are "no longer actively developing new experiences or content" for Hazard Zone, the game's small-scale take on battle royale. The mode will remain playable, but don't expect any new additions. "We’re the first to hold our hands up and acknowledge that it hasn’t found the right home in Battlefield 2042 and that we’ll benefit greatly from letting our focus and energy stay on the modes we see you engaging most with."
While some fundamental changes are coming to Battlefield 2042, like Breakthrough mode dropping to 64 players across the board, not everything is on the table. The devs are "not walking away from Specialists," for example, as "they’re a key part of the Battlefield 2042 experience." You can expect some changes to Specialist animations and voiceover to give them a more realistic, gritty military feel, however.
Season 1 runs from June through August, and will include a new map, new specialist, new weapons, new vehicles, and the introduction of the battle pass. You can also expect some of those quality of life fixes to start landing here, including improvements to the animation and traversal systems. Soldiers will now more realistically twist their bodies while aiming and more dynamically turn while running.
The Kaleidoscope map update will arrive in Season 1 as well, including more cover across the map, as well as terrain adjustments to break sightlines and help improve the overall flow of getting around. You can also expect more points of destruction.
A full reveal of Season 1 will come ahead of launch in June.
"The team has made a ton of updates to this game, but we know it's not enough, and we know we need to keep doing more," Senion Producer Ryan McArthur says in a video accompanying the blog post. "So on behalf of the team at Ripple Effect, EA Gothenburg, our new studio in Seattle, DICE, and all of the Battlefielders across EA, we just want you to know that we are here. So thank you for sticking with us."
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