The rumour mill is bubbling over how Battlefield 2042 will deal with the topic of Battle Royale, Free2Play and Co. Let’s put the whole thing into perspective.
The Battle Royale boom teaches us what we were taught in school: Copying makes you successful. Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone – two of the most successful games in recent years took their cue directly from PUBG and outpaced the pioneer. Battlefield 5 made a similar attempt with Firestorm, but it never really took off.
So the big question for Battlefield 2042 is: Will DICE also emulate the Battle Royale trend here? The first rumours provide a clear answer: yes and no. Let’s take a look.
What are the rumours about the Battle Royale of Battlefield 2042?
One thing up front: Even if the rumours and DICE’s communication don’t provide flawless info for or against a Battle Royale, you can deduce a lot about DICE’s strategy and handling of the topic between the lines.
Because even if Battlefield 2042 ultimately does not deliver a Battle Royale, the game will still learn from the Battle Royale trend. The well-known Battlefield leaker Tom Henderson comments on this as follows:
You can't build a BR in the #Battlefield2042 Portal because there's already Hazard Zone. pic.twitter.com/88CpHKQDRS
— Tom Henderson (@_Tom_Henderson_) July 26, 2021
So paraphrasing: Battlefield 2042 won’t let you craft a Battle Royale in the Portal Editor because there’s a separate Hazard Zone mode for that. And when asked why DICE doesn’t just declare the Hazard mode as Battle Royale, Henderson replies: “Because it’s not. But then somehow it is.
But what does that mean?
In our own interview, DICE made it very clear: Hazard Zone will not be a Battle Royale! But when you combine this info with Henderson’s statements, it actually paints a pretty clear picture: Hazard Zone will be its own interpretation of what makes Battle Royale so successful. Because behind the breakthrough of Warzone and Co. there is much more than just 100 opponents in an arena.
Even before the reveal of Battlefield 2042 it was known that DICE would experiment with Free2Play components. Hazard Zone is said to offer a hard-hitting, “never-before-seen multiplayer experience with squads.”
Hazard Zone could thus become a new multiplayer experience instead of a classic Battle Royale, in which – similar to Warzone and Tarkov – you have to go through new experiences on huge maps with buddies again and again. The fact that DICE is still so silent about this third big mode speaks for a pretty big announcement.
Our prediction: Hazard Zone will be free-to-play, inheriting many of Battle Royale’s strengths but functioning noticeably differently. And at least Henderson is keeping the back door open:
Hazard Zone will morph into a more traditional Battle Royale if it doesn't "take off" #BATTLEFIELD2042
— Tom Henderson (@_Tom_Henderson_) June 16, 2021
Battle Royale after all?
So it could be that Hazard Zone is so close to Battle Royale that DICE could ultimately transform the whole thing so that we get a second Firestorm after all. As a plan B, so to speak. But that’s still up in the air. What can be deduced very clearly, however, is that Hazard Zone will be big.
You can pretty much deduce who is developing the thing. We know what all the studios involved in Battlefield are doing. DICE Sweden is working on the regular multiplayer, EA Gothenburg is taking care of the technology, the new Respawn merger Ripple Effect is making Battlefield Portal – and that leaves only one candidate: Criterion.
We know that Criterion is putting development of the new Need for Speed on hold to work on Battlefield. So the team is so stretched that there is no capacity left for other major projects. We firmly expect Criterion to work on Hazard Zone.
Until we have concrete information, it is also worth taking a look at the other modes. With Battlefield Portal, DICE is taking a big gamble; on the other hand, the direction of Battlefield 2042 seems clear: give the fans a safe bank with the regular multiplayer, but at the same time put substantial resources into experimental modes like Portal and Hazard Zone. In the hope of also landing a Free2Play smash hit like CoD: Warzone.
