DICE details ‘Battlefield 4’ DLC and Premium subscriber bonuses

By Adam Rosenberg August 20, 2013

dice details battlefield 4 dlc and premium subscriber bonuses rain — Image used with permission by copyright holder

One of the few compelling newsbites from Electronic Arts’ 2013 Gamescom press conference focused on Battlefield 4, and specifically confirmation that the DICE shooter will once again be released alongside a value-added season pass. The Battlefield 4 Premium membership carries a $50 price tag, just like 2012’s offering for Battlefield 3, and those who sign up once again have an assortment of DLC downloads to look forward to along with a few other extras.

There are five confirmed DLC packs in all: Second Assault, featuring four re-worked maps from BF3; China Rising, a series of maps set on China’s mainland due in December 2013; Naval Strike, bringing ocean-based combat to BF4 in spring 2014; Dragon’s Teeth, focusing on urban warfare in summer 2014; and Final Stand, in which “the war [reaches] its epic conclusion,” also due out in summer 2014.

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Premium subscribers also enjoy a number of other benefits, including two weeks of early access to all of the expansion packs; bonus camos, paints, emblems, and dogtags; priority placement in server queues; 12 bonus Battlefield 4 Battlepacks; and unspecified “new content” every week.

DICE also confirmed that Battlefield 3 Premium subscribers will join Battlefield 4 Digital Deluxe and Medal of Honor Warfighter pre-orderers in enjoying three days of early access to the Battlefield 4 beta, which launches in “early October.” The beta opens up after that, with all comers able to play on the game’s “Siege of Shanghai” map in Conquest mode. The full game then hits stores on October 29.

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…

Gaming

Time is running out to play Battlefield 2042 for free

Crawford shoots enemies with a turret he place in Battlefield 2042.

If you want to try Battlefield 2042 for free on PC, your time is running out. You have just over a day to download and play it on Steam before it goes back to being a full-price release.
Battlefield 2042's free access period on Steam began on March 13, about two weeks after the start of Season 4: Eleventh Hour. If you go to its store page on Steam, you can download and play it for free until 12 p.m. ET on March 16. The game is also discounted on Steam during this time, so you can pick Battlefield 2042 up for $18 instead of $60.
If you don't want to buy the game directly but still want to continue playing after this free trial period, you have some options. Battlefield 2042 is included in multiple subscription services at the moment. It is one of March 2023's monthly PlayStation Plus titles for both PS4 and PS5 subscribers. Meanwhile, it's available as part of the EA Play game library, which Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S all have access to.
If you use the same EA account on those platforms, you'll be able to carry over all of your account progression and items and not lose any progress. As such, this free access period on Steam is a great time to check out Battlefield 2042 if you've been on the fence about picking it up.
Battlefield 2042 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Its free Steam demo ends on March 16.

Gaming

Battlefield 2042 Season 4 will introduce the game’s final Specialist

Battlefield 2042's final specialist rides a helicopter.

EA and DICE unveiled Battlefield 2042 Season 4: Eleventh Hour, and while this update will contain all of the new content you expect from a new season, they've confirmed that Season 4's Specialist will be the game's last.
Season 4: Eleventh Hour's new specialist is named Camila Blasco, a Spanish No-Pat that's part of the Recon class and great at avoiding and sneaking up on enemies with her X6-Inflitration Device. Up until now, a new Specialist has been a hallmark of each new Battlefield 2042 season, but after the recent class system rework the game saw, DICE now appears to be prioritizing updates for that over new specialists.
"Blasco will sit within the Recon class and be the last specialist we bring to the game," producer Alexia Christofi explained in a development update video Digital Trends viewed prior to this season's announcement. "There are now 14 in total, all bringing a variety of gameplay across the classes. Our focus is to continue to listen to your feedback and bring design and balance changes to our return to the class system as well as expanding on skins and cosmetics to give you more ways to stand out on the battlefield."

Although this is a big change for the game's seasons, know that EA has not announced any plans to shut down or stop updating Battlefield 2042, though. In addition to Christofi's comments, the video Digital Trends saw confirms that there will be a Season 5 with its own dedicated battle pass. Still, the announcement that a significant aspect of post-launch support is changing is always concerning for a live service game. This might just be a slight adjustment based on people liking the class system more than the Specialist system, but it still raises concerns about Battlefield 2042's support in the long term. In that way, I guess that makes the name Eleventh Hour somewhat fitting for this season.
In the meantime, players still can expect a lot from Battlefield 2042 Season 4: Eleventh Hour across all platforms. There's a new South African desert map called Flashpoint, new weapons such as the Super 500 sidearm Shotgun, RM68 Assault Rifle, AC9 SMG, and RPT-31 LMG, additional vault weapons like the SVD sniper rifle, and Type 88 LMG, the CAV Brawler vehicle, SPH explosive launcher gadget, and a new 100-tier battle pass.

Gaming

Battlefield 2042’s new season adds a map set in the developer’s homeland

Soldiers fighting on Battlefield 2042 Season 3 map Spearhead.

EA unveiled everything players can expect from Battlefield 2042 Season 3: Escalation ahead of its November 22 start date. The most notable addition is a brand new map called Spearhead, which is set in Sweden, the homeland of the Battlefield series' main developer, DICE.
Surprisingly, Spearhead is the first Battlefield map set in DICE's home country. The map is centered around two Nordvik manufacturing facilities in the Swedish wilderness, surrounded by very rocky and uneven landscapes. It looks like a map full of interesting terrain that will benefit some vehicles, like the brand-new EMKV90-TOR tank, more than others. Later in Season 3: Escalation, the Manifest map will be reworked to be less cluttered and more tightly designed, while a Breakaway rework will move the Oil Rig to a location much closer to where most action on the map takes place.

Of course, Season 3: Escalation is more than just a new map, battle pass, and some map reworks. A new assault Special named Rasheed Zain is an Egyptian soldier whose legs were amputated after a military accident and replaced with prosthetics. He wields an Airburst launcher and recharges his health very fast after getting a kill, making him great on the front lines of a fight.
The Rorsch MK-4 railgun, the NVK-S22 shotgun, NVK-P125 long-range pistol, the throwing knife, and vault weapons XM8 and A-91 spice things up on the weapons front. EA and DICE also teased that they'll finally start to rework Battlefield 2042's Specialist and Class systems toward the end of the season.
Battlefield 2042 Season 3: Escalation begins on November 22 across all platforms. The game will also be added to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate via EA Play on that date. Later, the PS5 version of Battlefield 2042 will be free to try between December 16 and December 23.