Battlefield 2042 Season 3 drops next week

Brace yourself, Battlefield 2042 players: things are escalating with Season 3.

Launching on November 22, the third season - Escalation - ushers in a healthy dollop of new content, including new weapons, a new map, and even new specialist, Rasheed Zain.

"Hidden enemies giving you trouble?" teases Battlefield 2042 developer, DICE. "Stoic security expert Rasheed Zain has a solution. Use his XM370A semi-automatic Airburst Launcher to eliminate obstacles shielding your foes, leaving you clear to pick them off as they run for the shadows. Zain’s perseverance under pressure allows him to recover health twice as fast after taking out an enemy."

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As for the new map, Spearhead? Described as "the Swedish wilderness", it's a CQC-focused map that features "two fully automated megafactories and an untamed terrain". You can check it out in the teaser below:

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"Call the shots with Battlefield 2042 – Season 3: Escalation," teases developer DICE. "Come face to face with the enemy in the northern Swedish wilderness and dominate ground warfare with the new technological weaponry, a new railgun tank, and Vault weapons.

"Deploy as new Specialist Zain and flush out your enemies with his teamwork skills, XM370A semi-automatic airburst launcher, and faster health recharge upon a kill.

"Gain an edge with new railgun tech in the EMKV90-TOR tank and Rorsch Mk-4 Railgun, and give the enemy both barrels – simultaneously – with the high-powered NVK-S22 Smart Shotgun."

As you may well expect, we'll also get a new 100-tier battle pass, through which you'll be able to unlock new specialist Zain.

Earlier this year, Infinity Ward co-founder, Vince Zampella, opened up about what he thinks went wrong with Battlefield 2042. Zampella - who now heads up Apex Legends' developer Respawn - suggested DICE had "strayed a little too far" from Battlefield's original blueprint, and forgotten "what makes that fun".

"I think they just strayed a little too far from what Battlefield is," Zampella said at the time. "They tried to do a couple of things that were maybe ambitious: grow the player count etc. I don’t think they spent enough time iterating on what makes that fun.

"It’s not inherently a bad idea," he added. "The way they were set up and the way they executed just didn’t allow them to find the best thing possible."

Back in February, EA acknowledged Battlefield 2042's lackluster launch and partially blamed the shooter's poor performance on Halo Infinite, which arrived just a few days prior on November 15, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

There's been plenty of talk from consumers and developers alike on Battlefield 2042 since its launch. A refund petition gained over 100,000 signatures earlier this year, and a former Battlefield 3 lead revealed he was "astonished" by the "missteps" of the new game.

Nonetheless, EA has confirmed that it is "fully committed" to improving Battlefield 2042 with new updates over the coming months and DICE is seemingly attempting to rescue the troubled title by introducing some sweeping changes, most notably the return of classes.