Battlefield 2042 is heading to Xbox Game Pass
The long-ailing Battlefield 2042 will soon be free for all Xbox Game Pass subscribers
➡️ The Shortcut Skinny: Battlefield’s back
😲 Battlefield 2042 is heading to Xbox Game Pass with the launch of its third season
📅 An exact release date hasn’t been announced, but it’ll be coming in the next few weeks
🤔Season 3 will bring some major changes, like reintroducing a player class system
📈 EA will be hoping to draw fresh players to the ailing game
Battlefield 2042 will join Xbox Game Pass Ultimate with the launch of its third season in just a few weeks.
Developer Dice announced the beleaguered multiplayer shooter will be coming to EA Play, the publisher’s first-party subscription service that’s included in all Xbox Game Pass Ultimate memberships. Free limited-time trials will also be running throughout December. If you’re not currently a member of Microsoft’s subscription service, use our Xbox Game Pass discount to get a bit of money off.
A Season 3 release date hasn’t yet been announced, although Dice said it’s only “weeks away”. That would place it around late November or early December, roughly three months after the launch of Season 2.
Dice says fans can expect a new Specialist and map, tweaks to existing maps Manifest and Breakaway, a few new weapons and gadgets to play around with, and a fresh battle pass to progress through.
More substantially, Season 3 will also return player classes to the game, reworking Battlefield 2042’s divisive Specialist system so it functions closer to the class system of past Battlefield games. Each Specialist will have a defined role and a specific set of gadgets and equipment. The overhaul will roll out sometime in early 2023.
Get a closer look at some of those upcoming changes in the development update below:
Battlefield 2042’s free play periods will run in early December. The US dates and times are below, categorized by platform:
Xbox
Start: December 1, 12am PT / 2am CT / 3am ET
End: December 4, 12pm PT / 2pm CT / 3pm ET
PlayStation
Start: December 16, 8am PT / 10am CT / 11am ET
End: December 23, 8am PT / 10am CT / 11am ET
Steam
Start: December 1, 12am PT / 2am CT / 3am ET
End: December 5, 10am PT / 12am CT / 1pm ET
Can Xbox Game Pass save Battlefield 2042?
Battlefield 2042 had a rocky start. It was plagued with game-breaking bugs, frequent glitches and a host of quality-of-life issues when it launched late last year, with many series fans also unimpressed with its Specialist system and expansive but empty maps. The game’s playerbase plummeted in the weeks after, falling below even that of older Battlefield games.
The last few months have been kinder. Frequent patches have ironed out Battlefield 2042’s launch problems, and a few hefty updates have responded to major player concerns and requests. The release of Season 2 at the end of August drew back a lot of disappointed fans, maintaining their interest with a fairly generous battle pass.
EA will likely be hoping Season 3 does the same. When the game hits Xbox Game Pass, a fresh audience will be waiting to try it out, keen to see whether EA has made good on its promises over the last few months, or if Battlefield 2042 still really is as bad as everyone claimed it was.