EA announced that it would be removing Battlefield 2042‘s 128 Breakthrough multiplayer mode on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC and will stick with the 64 player count version. The change will be reflected in Update 4.1 when it releases on May 19.
“When reviewing the available experiences in All-Out Warfare, we felt that the 128 player modes are better suited for Conquest where gameplay spaces are larger, and where you have a more natural fit for sandbox gameplay,” said EA on its website.
EA notes that the player count was reduced as it felt like each individual player’s contributions were reduced due to the sheer intensity and chaos during combat that come with having 128 players on one map.
Update 4.1 for #Battlefield2042 goes live across all platforms tomorrow (19/5) at 08:00 UTC ✅
It’s a zero-downtime update so you’ll be good to jump in and play once you have it downloaded 🎮
Update Notes: https://t.co/t75GIOLdTS pic.twitter.com/95Dore6tEG— Battlefield Direct Communication (@BattlefieldComm) May 18, 2022
“As a result, squads in Breakthrough 64 have a better opportunity to work together, to flank the enemy, place a spawn beacon, use their plus menu to attach suppressors, then clear, and hold a point – one squad helping turn the tide as an example,” EA continued. “We believe that the move to 64 players will bring back the pacing that helps celebrate these moments of teamwork and PTFOing, and will be keeping a close eye on how our changes help to improve the experience ahead of the start of Season 1.”
There are other changes to the game within the 4.1 update, including weapon re-balancing with improved base recoil and Specialist adjustments, such as Angel no longer being able to grant Armor Plates with his Supply Bag and Irish’s Fortification System recharge time being reduced from 25 seconds to 20 seconds.
Battlefield 2042 hasn’t had the best time in the spotlight. It was late with features such as adding a Scoreboard and voice chat functionality. At one point, it even had fewer concurrent players on Steam than previous entries in the franchise. EA reportedly also blamed the timing of Halo Infinite’s surprise multiplayer release on Battlefield 2042’s troubles.
In our Battlefield 2042 review, we said, “For a game claiming to be the future of Battlefield, 2042’s impressive Portal options make it clear that it doesn’t stack up to the past. Instead, it’s those same customization tools that could come to define it in time.”
George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @yinyangfooey