The Battlefield franchise has been experiencing some growing pains over the last few years, but with the recent announcement of Battlefield 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 2042 is embracing the franchise's wild side, with more extreme weather and unconventional tactics than ever before. While Battlefield 1 and Battlefield 5 allowed DICE to experiment with its formula, fans are greatly anticipating a return to a more modern age when 2042 releases in a few months.
Along with the trailers that have been revealed so far, Battlefield 2042 has 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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As noteworthy as Xbox's partnership with Battlefield 2042 may 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 of Battlefield 2042's advertising is done using the Xbox 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 the Battlefield franchise as a whole either. 2018's Battlefield 5 also received the support of Xbox before its release, where much of the same language was used that's being used right now with Battlefield 2042. Battlefield 5 didn'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.
This partnership with Battlefield 2042 is 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 that the Xbox 360 era had.
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 in the highly-anticipated Starfield'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 this Battlefield 2042 partnership.
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Looking at the lengths Xbox is willing to go to for this Battlefield 2042 partnership, it might leave some gamers wondering if the franchise will eventually receive exclusive content on Xbox over PlayStation. It's not completely impossible, as this is essentially what's been happening with the Call of Duty franchise for the last few years. After a lengthy deal with Xbox, the Call of Duty franchise became partnered with PlayStation, and the console started to receive DLC packs and open betas before Xbox did. This partnership stands to this day, with Call of Duty: Warzone giving PlayStation Plus subscribers exclusive content.
As exciting as it would be for Xbox players to receive similar treatment with Battlefield 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 the Battlefield franchise an advantage over its biggest military FPS rival, Call of Duty. If Battlefield and 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 not Battlefield 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 before 2042's release this fall, but for now, gamers should expect content to be the same across all consoles.
Battlefield 2042 releases on October 22 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
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