The open beta dates for Battlefield 2042 have been confirmed, with eager first person shooter fans able to dive into the huge 128-player battles starting on 6th October 2021.
The Battlefield 2042 open beta will run next week between 6th-9th October, with early access available for the first two days of this for those who pre-order the game or who are EA Play members – note: this still includes a lot of Xbox Game Pass subscribers where EA Play is bundled in. General access then starts on 8th October.
The beta will be available on all platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC. The older generation consoles are limited to 64-player battles.
Orbital takes place at a rocket launch site
The beta will include one map and one mode. Specifically, it’s the Battlefield staple of Conquest and the map Orbital. Additionally, you will be limited to just four of the game’s Specialist character classes. These are the first four Specialists that were revealed for the game: Webster Mackay, Maria Falck, Pyotr “Boris” Guskovsky and Wikus “Casper” Van Daele. These map to the Assault, Medic, Support and Sniper roles of old, though any character can play with any weapon.
For the beta, EA DICE has outlined what PC players will need in order to join in the action:
MINIMUM PC REQUIREMENTS:
- OS: 64-bit Windows 10
- Processor (AMD): AMD Ryzen 5 3600
- Processor (Intel): Core i5 6600K
- Memory: 8GB
- Video Memory: 4GB
- Graphics card (NVIDIA): Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti
- Graphics card (AMD): AMD Radeon RX 560
- DirectX: 12
- Online Connection Requirements: 512 KBPS or faster Internet connection
- Hard-drive space: 100GB
RECOMMENDED PC REQUIREMENTS:
- OS: 64-bit Windows 10
- Processor (AMD): AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
- Processor (Intel): Intel Core i7 4790
- Memory: 16GB
- Video Memory: 8GB
- Graphics card (NVIDIA): Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060
- Graphics card (AMD): AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT
- DirectX: 12
- Online Connection Requirements: 512 KBPS or faster Internet connection
- Hard-drive space: 100GB SSD
Battlefield 2042 will release on 19th November 2021 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, Xbox One and PC. It was originally meant to release in October, but was delayed to give DICE a little more time to polish the game while still working from home.
Announced earlier this year after months of rumours and build up, DICE first unveiled the All-Out Warfare mode with Conquest and Breakthrough and up to 128 players on newer systems. The game will have the biggest maps ever found in the series, as well as AI characters that will help keep these massive maps feeling populated at all times.
Alongside that, the newly rebranded Ripple Effect studio has cooked up Battlefield Portal – this will not be featured in the beta. Remastering content from the original Battlefield 1942, Battlefield Bad Company 2 and Battlefield 3, Portal puts control of the game in your hands, letting users mashup their own game modes, create unique experiences, and more.
The last game experience is the Hazard Zone mode, which is rumoured to take inspiration from Escape from Tarkov, but is categorically not a battle royale.
Battlefield 2042 guides & more from TheSixthAxis
- What is the Battlefield Portal game mode?
- Battlefield 2042 on PS4 & Xbox One limited to 64-players and smaller maps
- Preview: Battlefield 2042 has huge 128-player battles, but it’s much more than that
- The Maps of Battlefield 2042 and Battlefield Portal
- Battlefield 2042 – Specialists and Classes Guide
- Battlefield 2042 cross-platform play detailed – PS5, Xbox Series X|S & PC separate from PS4 & Xbox One
TrannosaurusBex
I won’t be picking this up just yet since I still don’t have a PS5 and I’d wait a couple of months anyway for the bugs to be squashed, and maybe a small price decrease.. however, when I do finally get around to it, I can’t say I’m excited to potentially be playing with bots. I play BF games to show my skills against real people and to crush puny humans, not to arse around with bots.