Battlefield studio DICE is reportedly working on a battle royale mode project

In case it wasn't the most bleedingly obvious direction for the world's most popular large scale FPS studio, DICE is reportedly working on a battle royale project. Specifically, a battle royale mode for this year's Battlefield V.

The origin of the rumour is VentureBeat, which cites "someone with knowledge of the studio who asked to remain anonymous". According to that report, the studio is currently testing its take on the mode. It's unclear whether it will launch with Battlefield V, or come later (or indeed, be abandoned).

It's no secret that Battlefield V is coming this year, with EA CFO Blake Jorgensen confirming as much earlier this year. Rumours followed that the game would take place during World War 2, which makes sense, since 2016's instalment ushered us back to World War 1. A more surprising rumour is that the game will have co-op play for randomly-generated missions.

It makes sense that DICE would pursue the battle royale genre: Fortnite and PUBG are obviously massive, Radical Heights is getting there, and Activision has reportedly ditched this year's Call of Duty single-player component in favour of a battle royale mode. Oh, and The Division studio Massive is also reportedly working on a battle royale title. The world has gone battle royale crazy!

...and that's not to mention the long list of other battle royale games, either in-development or already available. Check out a list of them here.

Shaun Prescott

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.