Electronic Arts and developer Dice haven’t even officially announced Battlefield V — the alleged next title that will return the series to World War II — but more details on the multiplayer shooter are beginning to take shape. If a new report is correct, the game could feature a battle royale mode not unlike Fortnite or PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.
According to GamesBeat, Dice is currently testing out how a battle royale mode would work in Battlefield V, but the feature wouldn’t be ready for launch day if it does end up being included in the game. Instead, it would likely be added as a free update. Dice has added modes as free updates to its games in the past, and just recently revealed the limited-time “Ewok Hunt” mode for its other shooter, Star Wars: Battlefront II.
We’ve seen battle royale mechanics added into several other games, including Fortnite, which originally began as a player-versus-environment game. Hi-Rez Studios somewhat shamelessly added a “Battlegrounds” mode to its hero shooter Paladins, and Cliff Bleszinski’s Boss Key Productions recently jumped into the fray with Radical Heights, a game that was rushed out in “X-TREME early access.”
More importantly, however, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is reportedly including a battle royale mode. The mode appears to be coming to the game in place of a traditional campaign mode. For the Battlefield series, such a move would be particularly disappointing, as Battlefield 1 struck a nice balance between action and authenticity in its campaign mode. It followed several disappointing campaigns with lackluster stories, including the spinoff title Battlefield Hardline.
Battlefield V could be one of a couple shooters announced by Electronic Arts during its EA Play event in June, though the other game is meant for a different audience. Early in March, an Amazon listing for a comic book appeared to reveal the existence of Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 3. The previous game in the kid-friendly multiplayer shooter series released in 2016, making it reasonable for a third to be nearing completion. A separate Plants vs. Zombies game was reportedly canceled at EA Vancouver last year, with the studio instead shifting its focus to the development of a Star Wars action game.
