Why The Future Isn’t Very Bright For Battlefield 2042’s Best Feature

It is no secret that Battlefield 2042 was hindered a lot by its controversial launch, with the 2021 title having to work hard ever since to move past this and rebuild its reputation. While it is undeniable that the game is in a much better state now than it was three years ago, a lot of the better launch features of 2042 were sadly neglected in the title’s bid to add more post-launch content.

Prior to its release, one of the most anticipated aspects of Battlefield 2042 was its ambitious Portal mode, which aimed to blur the lines between the franchise’s most popular releases in time-bending and highly customizable gameplay experiences. The concepts behind 2042‘s Portal mode had huge amounts of potential and were very ambitious, yet the lack of any real support for the mode throughout 2042‘s life cycle means that its future is nowhere near as hopeful as it could have been.

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Battlefield 2042’s Portal Mode Could Have Been So Much More

Portal was designed to be a unique experience set away from the purely futuristic gameplay of Battlefield 2042, allowing players to create their own multiplayer matches using a variety of assets from the following Battlefield releases:

• Battlefield 2042
• Battlefield 1942
• Battlefield: Bad Company 2
• Battlefield 3

These assets included things like maps, weapons, and vehicles, potentially seeing games where a force of World War 2-era soldiers might face off against a smaller but more advanced troop of futuristic combatants. Not only did Portal allow fans to re-experience some of the most beloved Battlefield releases of all time, but it gave an immense amount of power to players to fine tune what kind of experience they wanted to create and share with others.

Portal Was the Biggest Victim of Battlefield 2042’s Launch

The pre-release hype surrounding 2042‘s Portal was quickly dashed upon the game’s launch, with many players accusing the release of lacking the amount of content that a mainline Battlefield title should have. 2042 famously chose to forego a single-player campaign, for example, putting even more pressure on its lackluster multiplayer. 2042 released without things like multiplayer scoreboards and without the IP’s iconic four-class system, with DICE having to work extremely hard to regain a player base that quickly dwindled just weeks after 2042‘s launch.

2042 did a good job at redeeming itself in this regard with its post-launch seasons, going back to the basics of the Battlefield formula while releasing an intense amount of post-launch weapons, vehicles, maps, and more. Despite promises of continual post-launch support for Portal, the game mode never received any meaningful updates in the way of new maps, weapons, or vehicles, with it essentially being abandoned not long after the launch of 2042. With post-launch support for 2042 ending after Season 7, it is hard to see Portal being continued by DICE into future titles, sadly cementing it as an underused and underdeveloped mode that could have been a defining experience for the franchise.

Battlefield 2042

Battlefield 2042 is the latest installment in the long-running Battlefield franchise. Featuring similar game modes and structures to titles of the past, the DICE-developed title features next-gen graphics and the same iconic large-scale battles that players have become accustomed to.

Released

November 19, 2021

Publisher(s)

Electronic Arts

Genre(s)

First-Person Shooter

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood, Strong Language, Violence

How Long To Beat

N/A

X|S Enhanced

Yes

File Size Xbox Series

84 GB (June 2023)

Platforms That Support Crossplay

PC, PS5 & Xbox Series X|S and PS4 & Xbox One