Since revealing the Battlefield 2042 last month, EA and DICE have been a bit evasive about their crossplay and cross-progression plans, but today they revealed full details. Long story short, crossplay and cross-progression are in, although there will be some limitations. Crossplay will be supported between the PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PS5, but Xbox One and PS4 players will be left out in the cold. On the other hand, cross-progression will be supported across all platforms, both current and last-gen.
So, why are Xbox One and PS4 being left out? Well, it seems the last-gen Battlefield 2042 experience will be more limited than you might think. Yes, as previously confirmed, player limits will be lower (64 as opposed to 128), but DICE has revealed the game’s maps will literally be smaller on last-gen consoles, making crossplay impossible…
On Xbox One and PlayStation 4 you will have access to the same gameplay features that we’ve announced for Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5. Weapons, Vehicles, Specialists and Gadgets all remain the same no matter what generation of console you’re playing on. Dynamic Weather events such as tornadoes, or Environmental Hazards like EMP storms will also be experienced by all players. The main differences between console generations is that we’ve made adjustments to the playable area on the maps to ensure a fluid play experience for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles.
DICE has also provided a few more details about how Battlefield 2042’s AI bots will work. Turns out they’ll be somewhat limited, as they can’t play as Specialists or use wingsuits, and DICE emphasizes Battlefield 2042 is a multiplayer-only experience – basically, bots can be used to fill out matches, but you’re probably not going to have a great time playing against them exclusively.
The new Battlefield 2042 Q&A also includes information about specialists, vehicles, and more – you can check the whole thing out here. DICE promises they’ll be holding a technical playtest (separate from the later open beta) later this summer in order to work out any crossplay kinks. The technical playtest will be open to selected EA Playtesting members.
Battlefield 2042 launches on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, and PS5 on October 22. An additional game mode, strongly rumored to be the classic-map-focused “Battlefield Hub,” will be revealed in full at EA Play Live on July 22.
