According to a new report, a Battlefield 2042 battle royale game was in development but was cancelled and replaced with the current version of the game. The rumor states that this Battlefield battle royale was actually how Battlefield 2042 started out but at some point, EA, DICE, or Ripple Effect decided to change direction and retool it into a more “traditional” Battlefield title — and fans believe this fact answers a number of questions they’ve had about Battlefield 2042.
Rumor: There was a canceled Battlefield 2042 battle royale game
According to respected leaker Tom Henderson, Battlefield 2042 originally started out development as a Battlefield battle royale game before the decision was made at some point — presumably by publisher EA — to make the latest title in the series more of a traditional Battlefield experience. At the moment Battlefield 2042 does not have any sort of battle royale mode, despite its main competitor Call of Duty having the free-to-play Warzone. Henderson is the insider who previously reported that 2042 would be delayed by several weeks, which was proven correct.
In other news, the theory that #Battlefield2042 started as a Battle Royale is true, although I'm not sure how far in development it was changed to a more "traditional" Battlefield.
The inspiration from CoD was there, but Apex was a BIG inspiration.
— Tom Henderson (@_Tom_Henderson_) October 12, 2021
For fans, this theory — which Henderson says they can provide evidence for — explains a lot about the current feel of Battlefield 2042, such as the lessening of Battlefield’s trademark environmental destruction and why every player parachutes onto the game’s map at the start. It also explains why Battlefield 2042 is currently in the state it’s in, with fans fearing that another delay to 2022 is possible — something everyone will just have to wait and see about.
This would explain a lot of the removed features.
Environmental destruction really wouldn't be viable in a fast paced BR, nor would a lot of the movement option removals. It would also explain why the game doesn't feel as heavy.
I had a hunch that this was the case.
— JakePlayZ (Commissions Open!) (@JakePlayZ_OG) October 12, 2021
In other Battlefield 2042 news, EA is encouraging players to report cheating and toxic behavior in the game’s community, in an effort to avoid problems such as those affecting Call of Duty right now. Unfortunately, 2042 won’t support mouse and keyboard on console at launch, and conversely, controller support has had problems on PC during the beta. As for Tom Henderson, probably his most famous leak this year was that GTA 6 isn’t coming out until at least 2025.
