Battlefield 2042 players caught breaking tech test NDA may face permanent game ban, EA warns

Battlefield Portal
(Image credit: EA)

Battlefield 2042 players who violate their non-disclosure agreements may get banned from playing the final game, EA has said.

The Battlefield 2042 technical test is currently underway. Slated to run until August 16 for three hours each day, the tech test is a closed opportunity that only a handful of players will be invited to try if they have an EA Playtesting profile and have signed Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) to get access.

Not everyone's abiding by the rules of the NDA, however, and EA's warning comes after the developer/publisher said it has been forced to remove "plenty of people" during Battlefield 2042's current technical test.

"We've had a great first 48 hours so far on PC," Lead community manager Adam Freeman said in a thread on Twitter. "We successfully tested our server scaling and got a lot of new positive data back from people stressing our closed network for the first time. Thanks to everyone for jumping on so far."

After explaining how the tech test was going and reporting that the team had been busy testing crossplay – as well as identifying a "critical issue" with the PS5 severe enough to pull the tech test from Sony's new-gen system entirely – Freeman reminded players that they're all "under NDA for this playtest, so videos, screenshots and streaming from this playtest result in strikes on your channels".

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"Break the rules, expect to lose access to both the Technical Playtest, future EA Tests, and potentially access to 2042 itself when it releases," he warned (thanks, Eurogamer). "We've already removed plenty of people from the Playtest in these past 48 hours, and they won't be able to play this weekend."

He also advised players not to share codes with their friends – "they won't work" – and said "you also don't want to share your account information with folks, either" as "that's going to end badly for you. Super badly". 

ICYMI, a new short Battlefield 2042 film – "Exodus" – is set to debut next week on August 12 at 8 am PDT / 11 am EDT / 4 pm BST and introduce us to the game's near-future setting and its various locations. It'll be particularly important for anyone keen to understand more about the story behind the game, as Battlefield 2042 won't feature a single-player campaign.

A new nine-minute CGI film recently revealed that Irish from the Battlefield 4 campaign will appear in Battlefield 2042 in a new role as the captain of a refugee ship. Battlefield 2042 Exodus centers on the former U.S. Marine and how he finds himself at the center of rising tensions between Russia and the US. 

Battlefield 2042 releases on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation on October 22, 2021.

Find out more about Battlefield 2042's unique Specialist characters.

Vikki Blake
Weekend Reporter, GamesRadar+

Vikki Blake is GamesRadar+'s Weekend Reporter. Vikki works tirelessly to ensure that you have something to read on the days of the week beginning with 'S', and can also be found contributing to outlets including the BBC, Eurogamer, and GameIndustry.biz. Vikki also runs a weekly games column at NME, and can be frequently found talking about Destiny 2 and Silent Hill on Twitter.