TheBattlefieldfranchise has been experiencing some growing pains over the last few years, but with the recent announcement ofBattlefield 2042, it seems that the popular military shooter is reaching back to its roots for an exciting new experience. After some extensive gameplay trailers,Battlefield 2042is embracing the franchise’s wild side, with more extreme weather and unconventional tactics than ever before. WhileBattlefield 1andBattlefield 5allowed DICE to experiment with its formula, fans are greatly anticipating a return to a more modern age when2042releases in a few months.
Along with the trailers that have been revealed so far,Battlefield 2042has announced multiple partnerships. Chief among them is a partnership with Nvidia for graphics on PC, Polaris for off-road vehicles, Logitech for PC peripherals, and interestingly Xbox Series X for consoles. This has left some gamers wondering what exactly this partnership means, especially with how aggressive Xbox has been at acquiring big-name studios lately. In all actuality, however, it probably isn’t as big of a deal as it seems, and is just a sign of Xbox maintaining its marketing presence.
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Xbox’s History Of Partnerships
As noteworthy as Xbox’s partnership withBattlefield 2042may seem, it isn’t a completely unprecedented move. Big AAA games will partner up with specific consoles all the time, and it signifies more of an advertising deal than anything else. As recently as last year,Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s primary advertising partner was Xbox, but it didn’t necessarily mean that the game received more content on the Series X than the PS5.
Oftentimes, these kinds of partnerships have more to do with graphics than anything. If the majority ofBattlefield 2042’s advertising is done using theXbox Series X, then gamers watching trailers would be led to believe that the game is best played on that console. And while there sometimes is a graphical difference between consoles in these situations, the partnered console usually has the slimmest of advantages over the other.
This isn’t a totally unpredictable move for theBattlefieldfranchise as a whole either.2018’sBattlefield 5also received the support of Xbox before its release, where much of the same language was used that’s being used right now withBattlefield 2042.Battlefield 5didn’t get any kind of special treatment on the Xbox One over the PS4, it was just a matter of giving the game more attention on the Xbox One in hopes of also selling more consoles in the process.
Xbox’s Fight Against PlayStation
This partnership withBattlefield 2042is likely just one facet of Xbox’s years-long fight against the astronomic popularity of PlayStation. Microsoft dropped the ball in more ways than one with the release of the Xbox One years ago, and since then it has lived in the shadow of PlayStation’s accessibility and suite of exclusive titles. There has certainly been some redemption with the safe release of the Xbox Series X, but there’s still a lot of work to be done before it experiences the same success thatthe Xbox 360 erahad.
One of Microsoft and Xbox’s biggest moves in recent years has been acquiring as many development studios as possible to rival PlayStation’s success with exclusive games. The most noteworthy studio now under the ownership of Xbox is industry titan Bethesda, and the effects of the partnership can already be felt inthe highly-anticipatedStarfield’s exclusivity on Xbox Series X and PC. It’s a huge decision that will likely bring a lot of eyes towards the Xbox Series X, and the same aggressiveness is probably what’s behind thisBattlefield 2042partnership.
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What Does This Mean For The Future Of Battlefield?
As exciting as it would be for Xbox players to receive similar treatment withBattlefield 2042, it most likely isn’t going to happen. That sort of news is usually something that would be revealed outright with the game’s first announcement, as it’s something that Xbox would want to leverage as soon as possible. Not only would it give the Xbox Series X a big edge over the PS5 heading into its second year on the market, but it would give theBattlefieldfranchise an advantage overits biggest military FPS rival,Call of Duty. IfBattlefieldand Xbox’s relationship really blossoms from here, then timed exclusives might happen farther down the line, but it seems very unlikely right now.
Considering how hands-on EA is with many of its properties, it’s hard to say whether or notBattlefield 2042’s relationship with Xbox will go much farther than where it is now. Xbox has certainly been doing all that it can to pull itself up to the same level as PlayStation, and this partnership could end up being a step in the right direction. On the surface, however, it probably isn’t more than an advertising deal that’s meant to show off the power of the Xbox Series X. There’s certainly still time for Xbox to make another announcement before2042’s release this fall, but for now, gamers should expect content to be the same across all consoles.
Battlefield 2042releases on October 22 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
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