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  1. Games
  2. FPS Games
  3. Battlefield
  4. Battlefield 2042

The Road to Battlefield 6 battle pass in Battlefield 2042 is now quicker to grind through if you're willing to spend the money, and fans don't know how to feel about that: "There's the EA I remember!"

News
By Issy van der Velde
Published 9 September 2025

Pay or grind, the choice is yours

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Battlefield 2042 screenshot
(Image credit: EA)
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EA was quick to capitalize on the success of the Battlefield 6 beta. It added a free battle pass to Battlefield 2042 that allows you to unlock bonuses in the upcoming sequel, and player numbers spiked. "But, Issy, how does a free update make the company any money?" I hear you ask. That's a handsome question, dear reader. Well, if you want to skip the grind and just get the rewards, you can; you just need to pay for it. Unsurprisingly, reactions to this news have been mixed.

In the Road to Battlefield battle pass, you can level up by earning XP while playing matches and completing specific weekly challenges. These give tokens, and every 10 tokens lets you go up a tier. There are 60 tiers in total, so you need to play for a fair while to get all the rewards... unless you pay, that is.

"Tier Skip functionality is now active on the Road to Battlefield 6 Pass," reads a new update from the Battlefield comms Twitter account. Tier skips can be used to jump ahead along a battle pass without having to earn XP or complete in-game challenges. The trade-off is that you need to spend real money on in-game Battlefield Coins to buy them.

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"Design a Battle Pass so grindy, then sell the solution. There's the EA I remember!" writes one unhappy player on Twitter. Others are glad they don't actually have to play 2042 to enjoy the rewards in Battlefield 6 – it's not a very beloved entry to the series. "I'm glad they're doing this now after two weeks of playing the garbage known as 2042," writes one person.

What doesn't help is the fact that the battle pass accidentally under-rewarded players last week. The problem has since been fixed, but affected players aren't actually getting compensation, so now getting the option to pay to progress the battle pass feels like a slap in the face.

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  • Battlefield 6 screenshots from season 2 showing soldiers firing guns in a gas cloud Battlefield 6 codes (October 2026) and how to redeem them for Playercard Titles, cosmetics, and more
  • Arc Raiders Frozen Trail screenshots of new player armor Arc Raiders is adding a battle pass with a paid tier, Embark says don't panic

Are you happy you can skip the grind, or are you annoyedthat other players can simply boost their way to rewards you worked hard for?

While you're here, check out the best FPS games you can play today.

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TOPICS
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Issy van der Velde
Issy van der Velde
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Contributor

I'm Issy, a freelancer who you'll now occasionally see over here covering news on GamesRadar. I've always had a passion for playing games, but I learned how to write about them while doing my Film and TV degrees at the University of Warwick and contributing to the student paper, The Boar. After university I worked at TheGamer before heading up the news section at Dot Esports. Now you'll find me freelancing for Rolling Stone, NME, Inverse, and many more places. I love all things horror, narrative-driven, and indie, and I mainly play on my PS5. I'm currently clearing my backlog and loving Dishonored 2.

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