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Battlefield V's Battle Royale & Co-op Modes Won't Release Until Spring 2019
Battlefield V releases in less than a month and it's still unclear what exactly it's launching with as news turns towards what the World War II shooter won't have at launch. After a slight delay (and resulting stock price drop for publisher Electronic Arts) to November 20th took Battlefield V out of the direct fight against rival publisher Activision's Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, news has been a little odd for the highly anticipated DICE shooter.
Embracing the learnings from the Star Wars: Battlefront games and Battlefield 1, Battlefield V is aiming to be another period piece shooter that avoids the controversial monetization strategies of loot boxes, DLC map expansions, and season passes. Instead, all additional post-launch content and features coming to Battlefield V will be free for all players.
And there's a ton of post-launch content coming to Battlefield V in the first half-year after it releases, including a few modes and features some players were hoping will be there at launch. Whether this affects expectations and ultimately, review scores from gaming publications, remains to be seen but what's on the board for the overall long-term package of BFV looks mightily impressive. But first, the bad news...
DICE's much-publicized take on the battle royale format, Firestorm, won't release until March 2019 - at the earliest. That means the 64-player mode is not coming until four months after Battlefield V first releases, and five months after Black Ops 4's already popular Blackout mode will have been on the market. Hopefully that extra time lets DICE add new features to differentiate it (and better it) versus the competition - especially given that it has less players than Call of Duty's biggest mode. At the moment, this means for the first time ever Call of Duty features a higher player cap than Battlefield.
Also disappointing is that the Combined Arms co-op mode, which generates objectives and narratives, also won't be available until at least four months after launch. Some of the more basic features, the practice range and vehicle customization, come a month or two after launch, alongside another single-player campaign War Story - the first that lets players take on the role of a German tank officer in WWII.
Quote:
A seat of learning or just messing around, this area will contain trials to work on your shooting, driving, and flying. Based on the Hamada map, this is an environment that can’t kill you – until someone finds the Friendly Fire button, that is.
- The Practice Range
All of these additions, alongside other modes like a "revamped" Rush and 16-player squad Squad Conquest, features, updates, and challenges come part of the Tides of War live service (again, all free) that Battlefield V is building itself on. While many will scoff at the idea that some of these won't be there at launch, at the very least these future expansions give player some major reasons to keep playing and keep returning to Battlefield V in the long-term, especially when its co-op and battle royale modes launch.
Battlefield V (2018 Video Game) release date: Nov 20, 2018
