Battlefield 2042 is finally getting in-game voice chat

By Otto Kratky Published April 18, 2022

Just five months after it was initially released, Battlefield 2042 is finally getting a basic — and often demanded — feature: In-game voice chat. The ability to talk to squadmates in the massive, team-based first-person shooter will be added in the game’s 4.0 update, which is set to roll out on April 19.

Update 4.0 for #Battlefield2042 goes live across all platforms tomorrow (19/4) at 08:00 UTC ✅

It's a zero-downtime update so you'll be good to jump in and play once you have it downloaded 🎮

Update Notes: https://t.co/d22PICnrOh pic.twitter.com/PlrUo1madD

— Battlefield Comms (@BattlefieldComm) April 18, 2022

In-game voice chat (otherwise known as VOIP) will be functional for anyone in a party or in a squad. Like past Battlefield titles, the game won’t be an open channel for every player on one team, which makes even more sense now that teams can have up to 64 players. Players will be able to adjust their in-game voice chat settings from the Sound/Voice submenu of the game’s options screen.

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Along with in-game voice chat, developer Dice is also adjusting some of Battlefield 2042‘s weapon attachments. These changes focus on making each attachment’s difference on a weapon more “unique and noticeable.” For example, some of the game’s optic attachments will have a lower aim down sight speed while their magnifications are increased.

Dice is also adjusting one of Battlefield 2042‘s most popular vehicles with tomorrow’s update. Anyone playing the game has probably been killed a disproportionate number of times by someone in an M5C Bolte. The speedy vehicles are capable of wiping out entire squads with their turrets, and can even pose a threat to other, larger vehicles with the right attachments. Tomorrow’s update will nerf the vehicle, making its driver and passengers easier to shoot and drastically decreasing the damage its missile launcher attachment deals out.

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Otto Kratky is a freelance writer with many homes. You can find his work at Digital Trends, GameSpot, and Gamepur. If he's…

Gaming

Time is running out to play Battlefield 2042 for free

Crawford shoots enemies with a turret he place in Battlefield 2042.

If you want to try Battlefield 2042 for free on PC, your time is running out. You have just over a day to download and play it on Steam before it goes back to being a full-price release.
Battlefield 2042's free access period on Steam began on March 13, about two weeks after the start of Season 4: Eleventh Hour. If you go to its store page on Steam, you can download and play it for free until 12 p.m. ET on March 16. The game is also discounted on Steam during this time, so you can pick Battlefield 2042 up for $18 instead of $60.
If you don't want to buy the game directly but still want to continue playing after this free trial period, you have some options. Battlefield 2042 is included in multiple subscription services at the moment. It is one of March 2023's monthly PlayStation Plus titles for both PS4 and PS5 subscribers. Meanwhile, it's available as part of the EA Play game library, which Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S all have access to.
If you use the same EA account on those platforms, you'll be able to carry over all of your account progression and items and not lose any progress. As such, this free access period on Steam is a great time to check out Battlefield 2042 if you've been on the fence about picking it up.
Battlefield 2042 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Its free Steam demo ends on March 16.

Gaming

Battlefield 2042 Season 4 will introduce the game’s final Specialist

Battlefield 2042's final specialist rides a helicopter.

EA and DICE unveiled Battlefield 2042 Season 4: Eleventh Hour, and while this update will contain all of the new content you expect from a new season, they've confirmed that Season 4's Specialist will be the game's last.
Season 4: Eleventh Hour's new specialist is named Camila Blasco, a Spanish No-Pat that's part of the Recon class and great at avoiding and sneaking up on enemies with her X6-Inflitration Device. Up until now, a new Specialist has been a hallmark of each new Battlefield 2042 season, but after the recent class system rework the game saw, DICE now appears to be prioritizing updates for that over new specialists.
"Blasco will sit within the Recon class and be the last specialist we bring to the game," producer Alexia Christofi explained in a development update video Digital Trends viewed prior to this season's announcement. "There are now 14 in total, all bringing a variety of gameplay across the classes. Our focus is to continue to listen to your feedback and bring design and balance changes to our return to the class system as well as expanding on skins and cosmetics to give you more ways to stand out on the battlefield."

Although this is a big change for the game's seasons, know that EA has not announced any plans to shut down or stop updating Battlefield 2042, though. In addition to Christofi's comments, the video Digital Trends saw confirms that there will be a Season 5 with its own dedicated battle pass. Still, the announcement that a significant aspect of post-launch support is changing is always concerning for a live service game. This might just be a slight adjustment based on people liking the class system more than the Specialist system, but it still raises concerns about Battlefield 2042's support in the long term. In that way, I guess that makes the name Eleventh Hour somewhat fitting for this season.
In the meantime, players still can expect a lot from Battlefield 2042 Season 4: Eleventh Hour across all platforms. There's a new South African desert map called Flashpoint, new weapons such as the Super 500 sidearm Shotgun, RM68 Assault Rifle, AC9 SMG, and RPT-31 LMG, additional vault weapons like the SVD sniper rifle, and Type 88 LMG, the CAV Brawler vehicle, SPH explosive launcher gadget, and a new 100-tier battle pass.

Gaming

Battlefield 2042’s new season adds a map set in the developer’s homeland

Soldiers fighting on Battlefield 2042 Season 3 map Spearhead.

EA unveiled everything players can expect from Battlefield 2042 Season 3: Escalation ahead of its November 22 start date. The most notable addition is a brand new map called Spearhead, which is set in Sweden, the homeland of the Battlefield series' main developer, DICE.
Surprisingly, Spearhead is the first Battlefield map set in DICE's home country. The map is centered around two Nordvik manufacturing facilities in the Swedish wilderness, surrounded by very rocky and uneven landscapes. It looks like a map full of interesting terrain that will benefit some vehicles, like the brand-new EMKV90-TOR tank, more than others. Later in Season 3: Escalation, the Manifest map will be reworked to be less cluttered and more tightly designed, while a Breakaway rework will move the Oil Rig to a location much closer to where most action on the map takes place.

Of course, Season 3: Escalation is more than just a new map, battle pass, and some map reworks. A new assault Special named Rasheed Zain is an Egyptian soldier whose legs were amputated after a military accident and replaced with prosthetics. He wields an Airburst launcher and recharges his health very fast after getting a kill, making him great on the front lines of a fight.
The Rorsch MK-4 railgun, the NVK-S22 shotgun, NVK-P125 long-range pistol, the throwing knife, and vault weapons XM8 and A-91 spice things up on the weapons front. EA and DICE also teased that they'll finally start to rework Battlefield 2042's Specialist and Class systems toward the end of the season.
Battlefield 2042 Season 3: Escalation begins on November 22 across all platforms. The game will also be added to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate via EA Play on that date. Later, the PS5 version of Battlefield 2042 will be free to try between December 16 and December 23.