Battlefield 2042 Coming to EA Play, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in Time for Season 3

EA’s multiplayer shooter was launched in November 2021.

Written by Rahul Chettiyar, Edited by Akhil Arora, Siddharth Suvarna | Updated: 11 November 2022 17:47 IST

Battlefield 2042 Coming to EA Play, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in Time for Season 3

Photo Credit: Electronic Arts/ DICE

Battlefield 2042 was received poorly upon launch

Highlights

Battlefield 2042 has free trails planned in December across all platforms
Classes will be reintroduced in BF2042 in the early part of 2023
The Manifest and Breakaway multiplayer maps are being reworked

Battlefield 2042 is coming to EA Play and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. In a development update blog post, EA confirmed that starting with Season 3, its multiplayer shooter will be included as part of its own subscription service, which also comes packaged with Xbox's high-tier gaming subscription plan. The publisher has not unveiled a release window for the next chapter, but hopes to rope in wary players, who've avoided the game since its troubled launch in late YEAR. In December, EA has planned free access periods across all major platforms — PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X.

“We're proud of the work that we've done over the past 12 months and so if you haven't jumped in yet, starting in Season 3 we'll be introducing Battlefield 2042 into Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, and making the game available for subscribers with EA Play,” the post reads.

Here's what we've been working on in our new #Battlefield 2042 Dev Update!

🎮 Free Access periods for all platforms in December
⛑ Reintroducing Classes in early 2023 as part of Season 3
👀 Started pre-production on all new content beyond Season 4

👉 https://t.co/Kx31aKyabl pic.twitter.com/cRw1pIHwC3
— Battlefield (@Battlefield) November 10, 2022

With Season 3, developer DICE will reintroduce Classes to Battlefield 2042, placing Specialists within defined roles that see them equipped with a unique set of gadgets, suited to specific situations on the field. Similar to past entries in the franchise, Classes are divided into four types: Assault is equipped with a med pen, the Engineer has a repair tool, Recon players carry an insertion beacon, and the Support types have a defibrillator at the ready, for quick revivals. This will be deployed as part of Update 3.2, scheduled for the early part of 2023, which falls during the latter half of the aforementioned Season 3 multiplayer component.

For those who can't bothered with EA Play or Game Pass Ultimate, EA has also confirmed a free trial period across all platforms, hoping to bring boost the player base for Battlefield 2042. The game was received poorly by fans and critics alike at launch, due to the slew of glitches, rendering issues, and underuse of map segments. EA cut down development costs on several iconic aspects such as destructible environments and a campaign segment, while not bothering to iron out bugs before launch.

Here are the details for the free Battlefield 2042 trial period:

PC (Steam): From December 1, at 11:30pm IST/ 10am PT through to December 5, 11:30pm IST/ 10am PT

PS4, PS5: From December 16, at 9:30pm IST/ 8am PT through to December 23, 9:30pm IST/ 8am PT

Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X: From December 1, at 1:30pm IST/ 12:01am PT through to December 5, 1:29pm IST/ December 4, 11:59pm PT

EA also plans to introduce a new Specialist soon, alongside a new battle pass, events, changes to the Battlefield Portal, and several quality-of-life improvements. Battlefield 2042's “Manifest” and “Breakaway” maps are also getting reworked in season 3, with the latter receiving a “massive overhaul.”

In September, EA established Ridgeline Games, a new studio dedicated to the Battlefield franchise, that will focus on creating a proper campaign experience. The component has been lacking in recent entries, but will see a positive shakeup under Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto's direction, who will lead the new Seattle-based team, composed of industry veterans. The publisher first spoke about building a new campaign-focused team for Battlefield, merely weeks after 2042's launch, completely revamping their management. At the time, Vince Zampella, CEO, Respawn Entertainment — known for Titanfall and Apex Legends — was put in charge of the series, aiming to build a “connected Battlefield universe,” exploring new experiences and stories.

Currently, there is no launch window for Battlefield 2042 Season 3, but it will be out on EA Play and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate once that happens.

Is PS Plus better than Xbox Game Pass now? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Battlefield 2042

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Good
Portal is a fun, powerful creation tool
Gameplay stays true to original
Graphics are smooth and crisp
Older titles shine after being remastered

Bad
128-player lobbies create chaos
All-Out Warfare is too much for newbies
Hazard Zone doesn't work (for now)
Specialists don't feel special

Read detailed EA Battlefield 2042 review

Genre Shooter

Platform PlayStation 4 (PS4), PlayStation 5 (PS5), Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PC: Windows

Modes Multiplayer

Series Battlefield

PEGI Rating 18+

More EA Games

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading: battlefield, battlefield 2042, battlefield 2042 game pass, battlefield 2042 game pass release date, battlefield 2042 xbox game pass ultimate, battlefield 2042 ea play, battlefield 2042 trial, battlefield 2042 season 3, battlefield 2042 season 3 release date, pc, steam, ea play, xbox game pass, xbox game pass ultimate, xbox series s, xbox series x, playstation 4, playstation 5, ps4, ps5, ea dice