A year and a half have gone by since Battlefield 2042"s rocky launch. While major overhauls have been slow to roll out, the DICE team in charge definitely hasn’t given up on the game. Season 5: New Dawn is now right around the corner, and it has a fresh map, new hardware to mess with, and most importantly, squad management options.
Similar to previous games in the long-running series, players will finally be able to create, join, and change squads following the update. The pause menu will now feature a section dedicated to managing squads and squad leader roles. Read our previous coverage of the highly-requested feature over here for more details.
Next, Reclaimed drops in as the brand-new map of this season. It is an abandoned industrial location offering a massive playground for combined arms warfare. The Czechia-set map has six flags, with players fighting on top of derailed trains, inside giant warehouses, and in underground bunkers. Watch the trailer below for a look at the map in action.
The bolt-action rifle XCE Bar, Battlefield 4"s burst-fire favorite GEW-46, and the "hand cannon" BFP.50 arrive as brand-new weapons for this season as well. Meanwhile, three new grenades are joining the fray, which are the Spring (bounces into air before detonation), Anti-tank (detonates on impact against vehicles), and Mini (more carrying capacity with less damage) types.
DICE is also working to upgrade all of Portal mode"s Vault weapons from previous Battlefield entries to use 2042"s attachments system and skins. Unfortunately, it doesn"t look like the Portal mode itself is getting any new features or maps with the season.
With the launch content covered, now we move on to what DICE is cooking up for mid-season updates. Hourglass is the next map getting a rework.
It will actually be the final map from Battlefield 2042"s original launch lineup to receive almost a complete makeover to decrease open stretches of land and offer new angles of attack, all changes that look to make infantry combat more tactical. Further updates will also include a vehicle loadout rework and new map emplacements with thermal and anti-air capabilities.
Of course, no new specialist is attached to this season. DICE had previously confirmed that Season 4"s Camila would be the final operator to arrive since the move to a classic class-based system.
Battlefield 2042 – Season 5: New Dawn hits PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5 on June 7 as a free update.