UPDATE DECEMBER 1: Battlefield 2042 Update 3 release date announced, patch notes revealed.
Publisher Electronic Arts and developer Dice have shared more details about Battlefield 2042’s third post-launch update while providing additional insight on their future plans to fix some of the multiplayer first-person shooter’s most pressing issues.
Update 3 is currently slated to launch in early December and will be Battlefield 2042’s biggest yet. Its host of fixes builds upon those introduced in update 2, but also target new areas, like the Collection screen, which should be easier to navigate once it drops.
A fairly lengthy article on the publisher’s website, also reveals that the team behind the game is “carefully evaluating” player requests to see certain legacy features return.
The end-of-match scoreboard, server browser, and in-game Voice Chat were described as “big topics for us to cover all at once” but, although the devs claim to have plenty to say about them, we won’t hear specifics until they “have things that we can show to you, including details about our long-term vision for certain features and functions.”
The article also addresses Battlefield 2042’s performance, noting that server-side improvements have made things more stable after a handful of backend changes. PC players whose CPUs are having trouble handling the game may have to wait longer before seeing notable improvements.
“For all of you playing on PCs, we want to acknowledge that many of you are finding that performance of the game is presently CPU bound, and not enough of you who are fortunate enough to enjoy high end GPUs and CPUs are seeing the benefit of consistent, high frame rates,” the article reads.
“Identifying engine level optimisations and developing solutions will require a lengthier response time from us so that it gets done right. Short term, we’ll be doing all we can to help offer performance improvements that reduce the load, and up your frame rates where possible.”
As for Battlefield 2042’s Update 3, it can be described as an amalgam of quality of life improvements, fixes, and additions. As mentioned before, the collection screen should require fewer interactions to navigate, while markers will be added to newly unlocked items for easier differentiation.
Weekly missions will introduce challenges that unlock new cosmetics, while Hazard Zone will receive a first match bonus that rewards 1000 Dark Market Credits. The NTW-50’s effectiveness against vehicles will be reduced, while the Breakthrough mode’s capture times are set to receive additional tuning.
Battlefield 2042’s Update 3 also aims to fix the missing loadouts bug and introduce an option to toggle when the fire mode indicator is shown on the UI.
Other changes bring Rush layouts for Battlefield 2042 maps in Portal, but also target Specialists, melee attacks, and gadgets like the C5 Explosive, which suffers from inconsistent damage if detonated while attached to a moving vehicle.
Battlefield 3’s Update 3 is slated to go live on December 2 without any expected downtime. You can check out its long list of changes in its full patch notes.
A fourth, smaller update “focused on further balance changes, and general bug fixes,” is scheduled to arrive in early December.
Battlefield 2042 is available now on PC, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5, and PS4.
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