Ghost Recon Frontline is a free-to-play class-based battle royale FPS

YouTube

Ghost Recon Frontline, revealed today during a livestream marking Ghost Recon's 20th anniversary, is a free-to-play PvP shooter that supports up to 100 players in team-based combat across a large, open battleground. That's right—it's a battle royale game, although its main mode has an extraction twist in the vein of Hunt: Showdown.

Frontline takes Ghost Recon back to its FPS roots—more recent additions to the series, like Wildlands and Breakpoint, are third-person shooters—and promises an "advanced class system" that enables players to customize and upgrade characters. Different classes will be able to pursue unique skill paths, and will also have access to a range of deployables like auto-turrets, barricades, and smoke screens. And unlike most battle royales, Frontline characters—contractors, as they're known—can be swapped on the fly, so you can more readily adapt to whatever situation presents itself.

The "flagship" mode in Frontline, called Expedition, will see 102 players in teams of three working to complete objectives, gather intel, defend it from opposing players, and then escape from the map. The process of extraction is noisy and very visible, and a perfect opportunity for other teams to swoop in while you're waiting for your ride. Other modes promise a more "casual" experience: A Ubisoft rep said Frontline will also have a Control mode at launch, although details on that haven't been revealed just yet.

Some screens:

Image 1 of 7

Ghost Recon Frontline — (Image credit: Ubisoft)

Three classes will be available in the first closed beta test:

Assault Class - The go-to class for close-up fights.
Support Class - Their fortification abilities make them excellent for holding ground.
Scout Class - Reveal enemies and pester them from a distance.

Frontline will evolve across multiple seasons, with new modes, maps, characters, tactical tools, and other content added during each new season. It will also support full crossplay at launch between PC, consoles, and streaming services.

A launch date hasn't been set yet, but the PC-exclusive first closed beta test—unfortunately limited to players in Europe—will run October 14-21. You can sign up for that and future tests at ghostreconfrontline.com, and you can catch the full Ghost Recon 20th anniversary presentation (with the Frontline-specific segment starting at 17:00) below.

YouTube

Watch On

TOPICS

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.