Leak: Battlefield 2042 Sandbox Mode To Include Bad Company 2 Maps

Last month, EA pulled back the curtain on climate-change shooter Battlefield 2042 and detailed two of its four modes. The other two remained couched as future announcements — one mentioned only by name (Hazard Zone), and one shrouded entirely in mystery. A since-deleted GameRant article (that was clearly embargoed ahead of today’s EA Play showcase and went live early) jumped the gun on revealing that previously under-wraps mode.

Turns out, the newest Battlefield mode will be…old Battlefield. Called Portal, DICE planned to reveal it during today’s EA Play.

Battlefield 2042’s Portal is essentially a community sandbox mode. Using weapons, gadgets, vehicles, and other assets from previous Battlefield games, players can create customised game modes and share them to the Battlefield 2042 community via playlist.

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Six maps from older Battlefield games will be included: two each from Battlefield 1942, Battlefield Bad Company 2, and Battlefield 3, also known as The Best Battlefield. (Yes, Caspian Border is included in Portal.) All of the older maps are rebuilt in Battlefield 2042’s Frostbite engine, and will feature the destruction mechanics recent Battlefield games are known for.

According to a GameRant, though you can mix and match stuff, each team has to be locked into a specific era. And notably, none of the gear will be balanced by default. In other words, if you’re on the team using weapons from a World War 2-era Battlefield, you’ll likely get freakin’ wrecked by the team using high-tech gear from Battlefield 2042.

But you can balance any Portal modes through something called the “Rules Editor,” which can alter damage for era-specific weapons and, according to GameRant, tweak the number of players on each team — so, say, those with weaker weapons have more players. DICE says that it’s gonna be complex AF, and plans to include tutorials to get folks up to speed.

Portal mode doesn’t include a campaign.

Battlefield 2042 comes out October 22 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. It’ll support 128-player matches on PC and next-gen consoles. Matches on last-gen consoles will be limited to 64 players.