Battlefield 2042 trailer has fans obsessed with tactical penguins

Battlefield 2042
(Image credit: EA)

The explosive Battlefield 2042 trailer reveal might have been filled with rip-roaring montage-worthy moments, but according to the game's community, the real stars of the show are the penguins. 

The trailer, which you can check out below, sees soldiers fighting in a number of different environments, from cliff-top air bases to the streets of futuristic cities.

Around the 1:40 mark, the action moves to the Antarctic, with footsoldiers, tanks, and even hovercraft battling it out on the ice sheets. At one point, eagle-eyed fans may have noticed that the military powers at play here are sharing the environment with a waddle of emperor penguins - yes, that is the collective noun for a group of penguins.

The FPS franchise's feathery new arrivals seem to have captured the imagination of the series' community. Over on Reddit, fans have been joking about the creatures' tactical relevance, with one post imagining an army of assault rifle-wielding 'weaponized assault penguins'. 

Another post borrows some aerial wildlife footage to pit hordes of penguins against each other, while in the comments of other posts, players are wondering whether they'll be able to attach explosives to the birds before sending them waddling off in the direction of enemy players.

The full Battlefield 2042 reveal is due to take place this Sunday, June 13, so while a penguin-spotting trip to the South Pole might be a decent bet right now, we'll have to wait a few days for more information from DICE. 

That said, we've already picked up a reasonable amount - the Battlefield 2042 release date is set for October, but there's a chance you'll be able to try it out early, with a Battlefield 2042 technical playtest in July. We also know that those 128-player battles on PS5 and Xbox Series X will be the key focus - there's no Battlefield 2042 campaign and no plans for a battle royale mode to give the developers the opportunity to focus solely on the traditional multiplayer modes. Exactly what role these penguins will come to play there, however, remains to be seen. 

We got an early look at Battlefield 2042 and its huge multiplayer modes.

Ali Jones
News Editor

I'm GamesRadar's news editor, working with the team to deliver breaking news from across the industry. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I've run the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam's latest indie hit.