Battlefield 2042 beta release date ‘set for September 22’, it’s claimed
Insider and journalist agree on start date for the open playtest
This article was updated on September 3 at 9:43am BST with quotes.
The Battlefield 2042 beta release date has been set for September 22, it’s been claimed.
That’s according to information shared by both credible leaker Tom Henderson and GamesBeat journalist Jeff Grubb. Grubb said during a Giant Bomb show (paywall) on Thursday that he had corroborated the date shared by Henderson with his own sources.
“This is something I originally heard from Tom Henderson, who is a very good Battlefield leaker, and then I was able to confirm it separately,” Grubb said.
On Wednesday, an Italian retailer claimed that the Battlefield 2042 beta would take place next week. However, the latest reporting appears to debunk that particular listing.
Electronic Arts has previously confirmed that Battlefield 2042’s open beta will launch in September, but has yet to give an official date. EA Play members and customers who pre-order any version of the game will receive early access to the open beta.
Grubb also shared information on Battlefield’s Hazard zone on Thursday, which appears to partially corroborate a previous leak claiming that it would play similarly to Escape from Tarkov.
The reporter said that the mode – which is yet to be detailed by EA – would be based around squad-based missions collecting intel, while battling against other player squads as well as AI opponents.
“There’s one-life permadeath during these matches and then you have randomised mission parameters that you need to accomplish during each mission,” he said, “and it’s got big, in-world obstacles that happen dynamically, like weather events I think… then there are major hazards that happen as well. I don’t have specifics on what those would be…”
According to details previously shared on social media by community dataminer @Temporyal, the mode will have players battling AI enemies and fighting to reach extraction points without losing their loot.
In Escape from Tarkov, players are assigned an extraction point on the other side of the map, and must fight against other players and AI enemies in order to reach that point and escape with their collected loot.
In addition to these standard extractions, players are also given the opportunity to use optional extraction points but must achieve certain objectives in order to do so, such as by acquiring a certain piece of loot.
The standard edition of Battlefield 2042 is set to release on October 22, 2021 priced at $59.99 for Xbox One, PS4 and PC, and $69.99 for Xbox Series X/S and PS5.
However, players who choose to pre-order the Battlefield 2042 Gold Edition for $89.99 on PC and $99.99 on consoles, or the Battlefield 2042 Ultimate Edition for $109.99 on PC and $119.99 on consoles, will receive early access to the game beginning on October 15.