UPDATE 1:46PM: DICE Community Manager Adam Freeman has confirmed that early access will begin on November 12th for Gold/Ultimate Edition owners and EA Play subscribers.
ORIGINAL STORY 11:37AM: After various industry insiders reported Battlefield 2042 would be hit with a delay, DICE officially announced that the game’s release date is getting pushed back. Battlefield 2042 will now launch on November 19th, a delay of 4 weeks from the game’s original October 22nd release date. For those subscribed to EA Play, or picking up the Gold or Ultimate Edition of the game, it would be safe to assume that the early access period will begin a week earlier, on November 12th.
In a statement posted on Twitter, DICE revealed that the ongoing pandemic has “created unforeseen challenges” during development. The developer had hoped to bring the teams back together in the studio ahead of launch, however it appears that plan can no longer go ahead.
“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 statement read.
As for the upcoming beta, DICE says it’ll have an update on the beta “later this month”. It appears that the beta may have also been affected by the game’s delay, after it was widely reported that the beta would start on September 22nd. Credible Battlefield insider Tom Henderson has since revealed that the beta period will now begin on October 6th for early access, before opening up to all on October 8th. Henderson claims that the beta dates were found in “an internal system that I cannot share”. While Henderson has a strong track record with Battlefield 2042 leaks, until DICE announce an official beta date, take this information with a pinch of salt.
Battlefield 2042 will now release on November 19th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5 and PC.