The Hazard Zone mode in Battlefield 2042 is heading to video game paradise

Hazard Zone, rest in peace

Battlefield 2042’s first official season — which, yeah, will arrive approximately eight months after the game’s initial release — will include map overhauls, an emphasis on lower player counts, and the “winding down” of one of the game’s key modes, Hazard Zone.

In a Tuesday update, DICE talked through a number of adjustments aimed to “redirect [DICE’s] focus” to “create for pleasure, freedom, [and] creativity at all points,” according to creative director Lars Gustavsson.

As previously stated, DICE has “unchained” Battlefield 2042 from focusing on the 128-player experience, and will use reduced player counts in modes such as Breakthrough and Conquest.

“As we add new content and enhance some of our existing content, Conquest experiences may at times contain fewer Sectors and Capture locations,” DICE noted in a Battlefield Briefing development update. “This modification allows us to better regulate the flow and timing of fighting, ensuring that you spend more time engaged on the flags and less time checking your phone while waiting for the capture to confirm.”

“In Breakthrough, the choice to reduce player count to 64 allows us to establish more focused frontlines for the engagement, while the reduction in player count guarantees that teams looking to operate more strategically have more possibilities and less disorganized opposition on the wings.”

Existing Battlefield 2042 gamers will likely gravitate toward such modes anyway, as DICE is “winding down future development” on Hazard Zone, a mode billed ahead of launch as a significant pillar for 2042 and inspired by titles like Escape from Tarkov and Hunt: Showdown.

“Throughout our development, all of us on the team had great ambition and high hopes for this new Battlefield experience, but we’re the first to hold our hands up and admit that it hasn’t found the right home in Battlefield 2042 and that we’ll benefit greatly from letting our focus and energy stay on the modes we see you engaging with the most,” the developer said. DICE stated that it intends to keep Hazard Zone available, but that “beyond resolving severe problems and weird behaviors that may occur in the future,” it will not generate new material for the mode, and future maps will not be supported in Hazard Zone.

More information on Battlefield 2042’s planned improvements, such as how maps will get more cover, player animations will alter, and Operator designs will be modified, can be found in today’s Battlefield Briefing.