Battlefield 2042 will populate matches of its massive All-Out Warfare modes with up to 64 bots depending on how many players are available in the matchmaking pool.
EA confirmed that it will use bots to supplement player counts in its 128-player Conquest and Breakthrough modes when it revealed Battlefield 2042 earlier this month. The big question with bots is always how much of any given match you can expect them to compose, and EA has confirmed to The Verge that up to 64 bots will be able to play in those two modes at any given time, which translates to half of the potential player count. EA currently doesn't have any plans to let players disable bot backfill.
Battlefield 2042 will prioritize placing players in games with other humans rather than bots when matchmaking conditions allow, and bots won't be used at all for modes with smaller maximum player counts. EA has said it was particularly important to ensure players can get the full Battlefield experience at any time in 2042, since it doesn't include a standard single-player campaign to fall back on when there aren't as many players around.
With bots in mind, for those jumping into Battlefield 2042 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S, servers will allow for 128 players. For those on PS4 and Xbox One, 64 players are allowed on a server. The game is set to release on October 22 later this year.
It's also said that EA DICE is working on another, as yet unannounced mode in its LA studio. This will be unveiled at EA Play Live 2021 on July 22. Right now, we know that the game will have the squad-focused gameplay called Hazard Zone that is to be revealed some more at some point, while Conquest and Breakthrough will be remaining. This time around, however, due to Conquest's large-scale maps, the maps have small-scale zones that seem to promise some high-intensity action.
Battlefield 2042's multiplayer-focused experience has a number of features for us to get looking into, and no, Battle Royale is not planned, and it may not have skill-based matchmaking either. But it will have dangerous weather, penguins, and a new specialist system replacing the usual Squads system.
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