Battlefield 2042 delayed by a month

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The pushback comes just over a month before Battlefield 2042 was set to launch.

Irish from Battlefield 4 returns in Battlefield 2042
(Image credit: EA)

Battlefield 2042, which was slated to release on October 22, has been delayed. Electronic Arts announced today that because of "unforeseen challenges" created by the Covid-19 pandemic, it has elected to push the game to November 19.

"Building the next generation of Battlefield during a global pandemic has created unforeseen challenges for our development teams," DICE studio general manager Oskar Gabrielson said in a statement. 

"Given the scale and scope of the game, we had hoped our teams would be back in our studios together as we move towards launch. With the ongoing conditions not allowing that to happen safely, and with all the hard work the teams are doing from home, we feel it is important to take the extra time to deliver on the vision of Battlefield 2042 for our players."

The delay is disappointing, but Battlefield 2042 shows real promise. The new Battlefield Portal, which enables players to make and share custom game types using assets from multiple Battlefield games including 1942, Bad Company 2, and Battlefield 3, was "instantly the most exciting part" of the game we saw when we checked it out in July, and there's also a new game mode called Hazard Zone that looks like Escape from Tarkov mixed with a bit of Hunt: Showdown.

It's not clear how the delay will impact the upcoming open beta, which was expected to go live sometime in September. EA said that updates on that front "will be coming later this month."

Andy Chalk
Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.