At an Electronic Arts Investor Day, EA confirmed that the next game in the long-running Battlefield series will be playable in early 2025. The company confirmed that a “community testing program coming in early 2025” will allow players to go hands-on with an early build.
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This follows an earlier report this week where Battlefield head Vince Zampella confirmed that the next game in the series, the follow-up to Battlefield 2049, will see the franchise return to a modern-day setting. Ditching the futuristic 2049 setting, he name-checked fan favorites Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4 as the inspiration or launching pad for the next game.
“I mean, if you look back to the peak or the pinnacle of Battlefield, it’s that Battlefield 3 [and] Battlefield 4 era where everything was modern,” Zampella announced. “And I think we have to get back to the core of what Battlefield is and do that amazingly well, and then we’ll see where it goes from there. But I think for me, it’s that peak of Battlefield-ness is in that Battlefield 3 and 4 days.”
This also means the next Battlefield will return to the 64-player maps and rounds that propelled the franchise to become a PC multiplayer mainstay. Battlefield 2049 is widely considered a misstep for the series; it launched with a litany of bugs and balance issues. Battlefield developer DICE spent several months redesigning maps and responding to community feedback after the release.
Returning to more densely packed maps with the rumored ramped-up destruction will be of great interest to Battlefield and first-person fans, and having a “community testing program” will be an excellent way for the team or teams at EA to work alongside the community for the next release. EA has previously stated that the next Battlefield has the largest development team in the franchise’s history – so it will be exciting to see how it looks. And judging by this early access news, we won’t have to wait too long to get our first glimpse.