EA and Ripple Effect Studios took to EA Play Live to confirm the existence of Battlefield Portal, a Battlefield 2042 mode that allows players to create their own Battlefield sandbox experiences. The creation suite offers a range of maps, weapons, vehicles, rule sets, and game modes from the upcoming title as well as a handful of previous Battlefield games. Those who don’t want to create their own matches can instead play all of the creations uploaded by other players.
Previously rumored to be called the Battlefield Hub, Battlefield Portal will let players customise every aspect of their sandbox experience and will include options from Battlefield 2042, Battlefield 1942, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Battlefield 3. Factions from different eras can be pitted against each other, with soldiers, weapons and vehicles being mixed and matched as players see fit. Preset modes will also be available, like Conquest, Team Deathmatch, and Rush. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately, depending on who you ask), players will still not be able to create a battle royale mode.
As well as Battlefield 2042’s weapons, vehicles, gadgets, and Specialists, the content from the previous games will include:
Classic Maps
- Battle Of The Bulge (Battlefield 1942)
- El Alamein (Battlefield 1942)
- Arica Harbor (Battlefield: Bad Company 2)
- Valparaiso (Battlefield: Bad Company 2)
- Caspian Border (Battlefield 3)
- Noshahr Canals (Battlefield 3)
Weapons
- 40+ Weapons from 3 Theaters of War;
- M1 Garand, Panzerschreck, G3, M416 and more
- Plus the inclusion of Battlefield 2042’s All-Out Warfare Arsenal.
Vehicles
- 40+ Vehicles from 3 Theaters of War;
- The Spitfire and B17 Bomber make their return alongside modern hardware such as the Quad Bike and Little Bird.
- Plus the inclusion of Battlefield 2042’s All-Out Warfare array of vehicles.
Gadgets
- 30+ Gadgets from 3 Theaters of War;
- Reconnaissance items such as the MAV and Radio Beacon will be available as gadget selections alongside the Defibrillator and EOD Bot!
- Plus the inclusion of Battlefield 2042’s Gadgets.
Armies
- Classic Factions will be making their return in Battlefield Portal as you remember them, allowing you the ability to mix and match between 7 different armies from the Classic titles as well as Battlefield 2042’s Specialists.
- Armies such as 1942’s UK, US, and Germany as well as Bad Company 2’s US and Russia will feature exclusively in Battlefield Portal.
Soldiers
- The return of Factions to Battlefield Portal, we will also mean that we are bringing back soldier archetypes as you know them to be within their relevant titles. As an example, Battlefield 3’s Assault, Engineer, Support and Recon roles make their return in Battlefield Portal.
Once the basics have been chosen, players can go even further and alter settings like team ratios and sizes, whether AI soldiers are used, the availability of the HUD and minimap, victory conditions, and player settings. The latter includes things like turning off sprinting, removing health regeneration, disabling prone mode, or even the ability to aim down sights. Weapons, specialists, gear, and vehicles can all be restricted too, so if players don’t want tanks to dominate gameplay, they can prevent them from spawning in the map, for example. If certain players are becoming annoying, Admin Tools will allow usernames to be banned across all of your creations. There’s even a Logic Editor allowing those with prior knowledge of visual scripting logic to fine tune their Experiences.
Once a match is created, it remains online as long as there are players in the lobby. Other players can Follow each Experience so that it’s easy to see when matches are running. The most popular creations will be featured in official curated playlists too. Premission can also be given for Experiences to be shared amongst others through an Experience Link, allowing those players to remix them as they please.
New content will be added to Battlefield Portal as it is added to the game through different seasons and there will be four seasons per year. According to renowned leaker Tom Henderson, each season will come with free content that includes a specialist, new maps, weapons, vehicles, and 100 tiers. EA has not confirmed this list, so take it with a pinch of salt.
Each #BATTLEFIELD2042 Season;
– 1 Specialist
– 2 New Maps
– 2 Portal Maps
– Hazard Zone Update (Story-driven)
– 6-8 New Weapons (for each mode)
– 2-3 New Vehicles (for each mode)
– 100 Season Tiers— Tom Henderson (@_Tom_Henderson_) July 22, 2021
Battlefield Portal will be one of three different multiplayer experiences that also includes the standard All Out Warfare modes and Hazard Zone, the latter reportedly being the game’s free-to-play element. The game will launch on October 22, but those that want to try the game before then can join in with the open beta. As spotted by ResetEra, the beta will begin at 1am PT on September 6 and runs until 7am PT on September 11. Those who pre-order the game or have an EA Play subscription will be able to access the beta two days early at 1am PT on September 4. Pre-loading of the beta begins at 1am PT on September 3.
