Featured Image Credit: EA
Topics: Battlefield 2042, Dice
The developers of Battlefield 2042 have announced that the game's long-awaited first season is coming soon. Unfortunately, where most season launches tend to prefer to add new content, Battlefield 2042 is losing one of its major modes.
While Battlefield 2042's first season (arriving nearly eight months after the game's launch) will include some new content and much-needed tweaks, it will also see the end of the much-touted Hazard Zone mode.
In an update shared by developer DICE creative director Lars Gustavsson said that many of the upcoming changes are intended to “redirect focus” to “build for fun, for freedom, [and] for creativity at all points."
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As previously announced, these changes include the end of Battlefield 2042's 128-player Breakthrough mode on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. From now on, the mode will support 64 players. DICE believes that stepping away from 128-player games will allow it to create a more focused experience, despite 128-player games being one of the big selling points of Battlefield 2042 for many.
“In Breakthrough, the decision that moves us to 64 players universally, helps us to build more focused frontlines for the engagement, and the reduction in player count ensures that squads which look to work more tactically find more opportunities, and less chaotic resistance in the flanks," DICE wrote.
Conquest experience will also feature less capture points and sectors, to "better control the flow and pacing of combat, making sure that you’re spending more time engaging on the flags, and less time checking your phone while you wait for the capture to confirm."
Perhaps the biggest loss is the death of Hazard Zone, the ambitious Escape From Tarkov-esque mode that was billed as one of the major pillars of Battlefield 2042 ahead of launch.
“All of us on the team had great ambition and high hopes for this new Battlefield experience throughout our development, but we’re the first to hold our hands up and acknowledge that it hasn’t found the right home in Battlefield 2042 and that we’ll benefit greatly from letting our focus and energy stay on the modes we see you engaging most with,” the developer said.
While the plan is to keep Hazard Zone accessible, DICE has no intention of supporting it with new content or maps. In other words, it'll be dead and buried by the end of the year.