Battlefield (video game series)

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The Battlefield games usually focus on large-scale, online multiplayer battles between two conflicting military forces; in Battlefield Hardline, the military setting is replaced with a "war on crime" between the police Special Response Units and the criminals. Playing in squads has become a major element of games in the series. Apart from infantry, tanks, airplanes, and other vehicles may participate in these battles. Since Battlefield 2, the series centrally recorded online stats for each player, allowing users to receive rank promotions and weapon unlocks based on their performance as well as awards such as medals, ribbons, and pins. While continuing to focus on large, online multiplayer battles, 2008's Battlefield: Bad Company introduced full single-player campaigns with more fleshed-out storylines.^[a] It was also the first game to use the studio-developed game engine, Frostbite, which introduced almost fully destructible environments; a feature that has since become one of the most well-known staples of the series.

The series' flagship game mode is "Conquest", where two teams of players attempt to gain control of the most control points until the other team's tickets (respawns) run out. To capture a control point, players must stand within the capture area until their team captures it. Should a control point be captured already by the enemy team, or should any enemy players contest it, players must eliminate all enemy players and/or neutralize the control point first by standing within the capture area. Captured control points may act as respawn points for players, though they can also respawn on squad members who are not in combat and specialized equipment carried by certain classes. Vehicles cannot spawn at a command post and must be obtained from the team's "headquarters", which act as the team's main spawn point. Battlefield V introduces the battle royale game mode to the Battlefield series, which merges the franchise's "core pillars of destruction, team play, and vehicles" with common elements seen in traditional battle royales, and Battlefield 6 introduces a knockout elimination mode titled "Gauntlet" where eight squads of four players seek to complete four sets of objectives while trying not to fall into the bottom two teams.

Outside of early versions of Battlefield 2042,^[b] the Battlefield series features a class system. Different classes are suited to different roles in combat. Historically, the series featured the Anti-tank, Demolition, Medic, Specialist, and Special Forces classes, before these were merged into other classes in later games. The classes as seen in modern titles was first introduced in Battlefield: Bad Company 2: the Assault, who specializes in all-round combat, Engineer, who carries out in-field repairs to vehicles while being equipped with anti-vehicular weapons, Medic (later Support), who resupplies and revives fallen allies, and Recon, who specializes in spotting enemies and using sniper rifles to engage in long-distance combat. The ability to engage other players in melee combat with a knife has been present in Battlefield games, but since Battlefield 2142, the series has included an award of dog tags for each player killed using a knife.^[2]

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Battlefield 1942 was released on September 10, 2002, using the Refractor game engine, and set in World War II. It introduced the "Conquest" gameplay mode, in which players fought for "control points" throughout the map. Two expansion packs were released.

Battlefield Vietnam, released in 2004, moved the setting to the Vietnam War, and was built on an updated Refractor engine with various gameplay improvements, such as the ability to fire personal weapons while seated in vehicles, and visualizing dense foliage.

The 2005 release Battlefield 2 takes place in the modern day, depicting a war between the United States and China and the fictional Middle Eastern Coalition (MEC). Despite requiring numerous patches due to a large number of bugs and glitches in the game upon its release, it was a large commercial success, selling more than 2,250,000 copies worldwide, by July 2006.^[29] One expansion pack, Special Forces, which added Russia, exclusive missions, and new weapons and gadgets, and two booster packs, Armored Fury (adding three new battles in the USA) and Euro Force (adding the European Union), were also released. A similar game called Battlefield 2: Modern Combat was released for consoles, with a larger single player mode but limited online play.

Battlefield 2142 was released in 2006, taking place during a global ice age in the 22nd century. While most of it is graphically similar to Battlefield 2, it introduced a variety of equipment to unlock and battles between two giant "Titan" airships. The Northern Strike expansion pack was later released, adding new maps, vehicles, and a new game mode. Its use of in-game advertising was controversial among players and not well received.^[30]

Battlefield: Bad Company, released in 2008, is set in a near-future war between the United States and Russia, and follows a US Army company's escapades and their search for hidden gold. This new Battlefield game had a variety of vehicles for land, air and sea. It had a new destruction system that allowed the player to break and destroy environments, based on a new game engine named Frostbite, which replaced the Refractor engine used in earlier releases (with the exception of Battlefield 2: Modern Combat, which used RenderWare).

In 2009, EA released two download-only games, Battlefield Heroes, a free-to-play Refractor 2 engine game, supported by advertising and micropayments and Battlefield 1943, a Frostbite engine game, released in July 2009, for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and was scheduled for release in Q1 2010, for PCs, but was cancelled.^[31]

In 2010, a sequel to Battlefield: Bad Company, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, was released, involving "B" Company's search for an electromagnetic pulse weapon. It features a larger multiplayer than its predecessor Bad Company, with updated graphics and realistic effects (e.g. bullet-drop). The game introduced the rush game mode and brought in weapons. It features a "VIP" system of content distribution where player with VIP codes gain early access to new maps. DICE also released an expansion for Bad Company 2, Battlefield: Bad Company 2: Vietnam, setting the game in the Vietnam War.

Battlefield 3 was announced in 2009,^[32][33] and in 2010 it was confirmed that gamers who pre-ordered Medal of Honor Limited Edition would receive Battlefield 3 forty-eight hours before the open beta was released. On February 4, 2011, the first teaser trailer for the game was revealed, with a preliminary release in the Fall of 2011.^[34] Among the new features that are introduced in the game include fighter jets, attack aircraft, and the ability to go prone. The game allows 64 (on the PC) players as in all previous Battlefield titles, though the consoles allow for 24-player matches. The Battlefield 3 Beta was released on September 29, 2011.^[35] Battlefield 3 was released on October 25, 2011, and has received high review scores and has received awards from IGN.

On November 5, 2010, EASY Studios announced a follow-up to its free-to-play Battlefield Heroes, Battlefield Play4Free. EASY develops the free-to-play variants of Battlefield. Its latest offering gives players the same free-to-play pricing structure of Heroes, while still offering a more serious, core Battlefield experience (as opposed to Heroes' lighthearted, cartoon-styled environment).^[36] Battlefield Play4Free went into open beta on April 4, 2011.^[37]

Battlefield 4 was announced on March 26, 2013. On July 17, 2012, it was announced that players who pre-order Medal of Honor: Warfighter would receive access to a Battlefield 4 beta. The beta for the game began on October 1 and ended on October 15 with a full release on October 29, 2013.

Information about the next entry in the series, Battlefield Hardline, was leaked on May 27, 2014, and officially unveiled on June 9, 2014, during E3. The game was developed by Visceral Games and, unlike previous installments in the franchise, is centered around a cops-and-robbers theme.

Battlefield: Bad Company 3 was an upcoming entry into the series, a follow-up to 2010's Battlefield: Bad Company 2.^[38][39] General Manager of DICE, Karl-Magnus Troedsson stated in a 2014 interview with Eurogamer that the game is not in active development as the studio doesn't know what exactly fans loved about the series as there has never been a clear line of the matter and they do not want to risk destroying the series.^[40] Despite this, DICE has made it clear that they will be developing Bad Company 3 at some point.^[41]

In July 2015, CFO of EA Blake Jorgensen announced a new Battlefield title would be released in 2016.^[42][43][44] This was followed up by Dan Vaderlind, EA DICE Development Director, announcing that since Star Wars Battlefront has been released, he will now be focused on the upcoming Battlefield title.^[45] On May 6, 2016, Battlefield 1 was officially announced, with an official reveal trailer on YouTube, and was released on October 21, 2016.^[46][47]

In a May 2018 live reveal event it was confirmed that it the next installment would be a World War II game after several leaks suggested it would be set during this period, with the title revealed as Battlefield V.^[48] Battlefield V was released later that year on November 20, 2018, while also offering certain players early access to the game as early as November 9, 2018.^[49]

Battlefield 2042 was released on November 19, 2021. During EA's 2020/2021 Q3 earnings call it was revealed that the game will be the first to release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, utilizing their processing power to feature more players than ever in the online portion of the game.^[50] Additionally, it saw multiple innovations in multiplayer, social, and competition aspects that are new to the franchise.^[51] After 2042 was met with a poor launch, it was announced that Oskar Gabrielson, the general manager of DICE, would be stepping down from his position, and Rebecka Coutaz, former managing director of Ubisoft Annecy, would replace him. Vince Zampella of Respawn Entertainment and Ripple Effect Studios (the latter of which had created 2042's Portal Mode) will be heading the Battlefield franchise. It was also reported that EA game director Marcus Lehto is building a new Seattle-based studio focused on story content for Battlefield, while Ripple Effect is developing a new "Battlefield experience" set in the game's universe.^[52]

Battlefield 6 was released on October 10, 2025. Following the critical derision to 2042, Vince Zampella of Respawn Entertainment was installed as Battlefield creative director. DICE developed the title; numerous studios under EA worked under the Battlefield Studios name, including Ripple Effect Studios (formerly DICE Los Angeles), Criterion Games, and Motive Studio. Zampella stated that the game was aiming for a grounded, serious tone, similar to Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4. The game launched to critical and financial success, becoming the biggest launch in the series' history;^[53] a free battle royale mode, titled RedSec, was released on October 28. Battlefield 6 was Zampella's only title as Battlefield creative director, as he died in December 2025.^[54]

Battlefield Mobile was a cancelled free-to-play game for the Android, with an iOS release initially planned before the game's cancellation on January 31, 2023. An open beta was released in November 2022.^[55] The game was cancelled on January 31, 2023. The developer of the game, Industrial Toys, was also shut down.^[56]

Canceled television series

In October 2012, Fox Broadcasting Company announced their intentions to make a one-hour-long television show based on Battlefield: Bad Company.^[57] The show was to be written by executive producer John Eisendrath and co-produced by Patrick Bach and Patrick O'Brien of Electronic Arts, and Doug Robinson of Happy Madison. Nothing has been developed after their announcement.^[58]

In July 2016, Paramount Television announced that it will adapt the game series for television. Anonymous Content's Michael Sugar and Ashley Zalta will executive produce.^[59] Nothing became of that, but Electronic Arts discussed a spinoff TV show or movie in September 2024.^[60]

Film

In April 2026, a film adaptation was announced with Christopher McQuarrie directing and Michael B. Jordan producing and possibly starring. A bidding war is currently taking place for distribution rights, with a priority for a theatrical release.^[61]