Third time’s the charm: Next Battlefield game will reportedly have free battle royale mode

Following the abysmal arrival of the latest title in the Battlefield franchise, Battlefield 2042, the series developers are turning their eyes to the next installment, and a free-to-play battle royale which will reportedly tie into the next release.

Battle royales like Apex Legends or Fortnite have quickly become the go-to game modes for many modern gamers, which has been a win-win for publishers because they stay popular and deliver an easy-to-monetization system. So, it’s no surprise that the bigwigs behind Battlefield are, with the help of Ripple Effect, working on yet another Battlefield-themed battle royale, according to a report from Insider Gaming today.

Ripple Effect, formerly known as DICE, is reportedly leading the charge on this new Battlefield strategy, with Insider Gaming suggesting its plans will follow a similar gameplan to Warzone—that is, the battle royale will be tied into the next Battlefield game and will share weapons, updates, and any balance changes.

The impending Battlefield title is expected to have two modes: The battle royale and “Gauntlet,” which is said to be a team-based objective-focused game mode where the lowest scoring team is kicked from the Gauntlet after every round in the lobby.

While it sounds interesting, and Battlefield likely needs a battle royale success to stay relevant at this stage, there’s a big hurdle: This is the franchise’s third time around the block.

The franchise’s first two attempts, Battlefield V’s Royale Firestorm and Battlefield 2042’s Hazard Zone, were by no means the greatest battle royale games players have ever got their hands on. Many found it hard to get decent weapons and gear, claimed the content was repetitive and boring, and the real kicker was they were sealed behind paywalls. 

Now that Vince Zempalla, the head of Respawn, is leading the franchise, we may see more of an Apex x Battlefield-themed battle royale with microtransactions and, hopefully, better maps, points-of-interest, fresh content, weapons, and seasonal events.

The title has a tentative 2025 release date, and with any luck this Battlefield battle royale can be everything the other two were not—after all, the only way now is up.